Partner Times Two
by Yuki-Onna1
Summary: Hey, did you hear about Hikari Yuuichiro's daughter, that Hikari Netto? The one who went missing when she was five? Well, I heard that she came back after ten years and is being enrolled in Akibara High School! Where was she, you ask? Well, I've only heard rumors, but I hear she disappeared soon after something called the Alpha Incident...but that's supposed to be top secret, okay?
1. Search

Welcome to Partner Times Two.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Search

"So this is Akihara Town…" A teenage girl muttered to herself as she stepped out of the train station.

The girl had short brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a dark purple t-shirt, along with black shorts and shoes. On her head was a blue baseball cap. In one hand she clutched a ragged blue cloth with a black and red symbol stitched at the center.

' _ **Do you really think that you can find out who your parents are here?'**_ Her best friend (though he insists otherwise) asked.

' _Hey, I won't know unless I try.'_ She responded.

She never knew how they can mentally communicate with each other like this, along with other things. Her best friend always tries to change the subject or remain silent until the girl stopped talking about it. And Grandpa, the one who had raised her for about ten years of her life, was really reluctant in talking about it, so she can only guess at the reasons.

' _Besides,'_ she added, _'the voice is a little louder here than in Amerope or Creamland.'_

The voice was a bit different than her best friend. Whenever the girl tried to talk to them, they never answer. It was a bit like a radio station, only a lot quieter and they only seem to be able to say one thing; her name. It was really weird.

The girl walked along the streets, not really paying attention to where she was going. It wasn't dangerous, because her best friend would tell her if she was going to walk into something.

' _ **Do you really think that voice is a clue to find your birth parents? To your right.'**_

She stepped to the right and continued wandering around. _Ah, she was about to walk off the sidewalk._

' _I don't know, but it's all I have. That, and…'_ She held up the blue cloth she was holding, raising it to eye level and watching the ends flap around.

The blue cloth was an old bandana that was probably more than five years old. Her best friend had warned her multiple times that she shouldn't show it to Grandpa, so it belonged to someone Grandpa didn't like. That didn't really help, since Grandpa disliked most people, but it was a hint anyways.

The voice was there again. The girl focused on the voice that was calling her name and tried asking them who they are again, briefly 'setting aside' the mental link with her best friend.

' _Who are you? How do you know me?'_ It was the same questions that she asked the voice whenever it shows up. Only this time the voice fell silent when she asked this time.

' _You can hear me?'_ The voice seemed surprised, as if they didn't know that repeatedly calling the girl's name would get results.

The girl frowned. _'I was always able to hear you. And you haven't answered my questions yet.'_ She could 'feel' her best friend in the back of her mind, wondering what she was doing, standing in the middle of the sidewalk. She ignored him.

The voice didn't seem to hear her last sentence. _' You can hear me…that means…! I need to tell Mama right away!'_

' _Wait, what's going on?'_ The voice had already left.

' _ **What had happened?'**_ Oops, her best friend sounded a bit mad.

' _Sorry Forte. The voice came back.'_ She explained as she started walking again, stopping occasionally to ask people if they know the symbol on her bandana. _'I could actually talk to them now.'_

Forte made a small noise that she interpreted as 'interesting'. _**'I suppose that the voice may be living in this town, then.'**_

The girl agreed, then refocused on the conversation she was having with a lady that was managing a café. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, can you repeat that?"

The lady gave a small smile, "The emblem on that bandana is the same as Hikari Yuuichirou's."

The girl blinked, surprised. Two clues discovered in Akihara Town? "Really? Can you tell me where he lives? I'd like to give it back to him."

The nice lady nodded. "Sure!" The nice lady not only gave the girl directions, but also gave her a drawn map with an arrow that started from the café and ended at a house marked with an 'x'.

The girl beamed at the lady. "Thank you so much!"

"Oh, no problem!"

The girl left the café and, following the directions on the map while drinking the mocha she bought from the café, was soon standing in front of a house that was, according to the map, Hikari Yuuichiro's house. The mocha was discarded into a trash can a few blocks back.

' _ **Hikari…'**_ Forte was in a weird mood ever since hearing that name.

' _Is something wrong?'_ Forte didn't reply. Oh, well. Hopefully he'll lighten up a bit later.

' _Um, if you don't mind me asking, where are you?'_ The girl jumped in surprise. She didn't think that the voice would be back so soon.

' _I'm, uh, in front of Hikari Yuuichiro's house.'_ Why would the voice want to know where she was?

' _In front of-Papa's house!?'_ The voice fell silent. Or left the girl standing awkwardly in front of the house. Probably the latter.

Seconds later, the front door slammed open, startling the girl and breaking Forte out of his weird mood.

The one who had opened the door in such a way was a woman with brown hair and eyes. Brown hair and eyes, the girl realized, were similar to her own hair and eye color.

The woman stared at the girl with an expression of surprise, disbelief, relief, as well as other emotions. The woman opened her mouth and _said the girl's name._

"Netto?"

* * *

There may or may not be slightly different personalities for the characters, which could be attributed to the reason being that this is a slight AU in which Netto and Forte had known each other for most of their lives.

For Forte, having someone that helped support him after shit that happened when Netto was five _could_ be a factor into him not being as power-hungry and/or antisocial as he was in his anime/game/manga incarnations.

For Netto, having Forte (As well as not having Hikari Family support, and having a certain grandpa that raised her) around may or may not cause her to develop certain views on power and whatever else I manage to think up.

Kudos for people who can guess who the voice is.


	2. Found

To that anonymous person that reviewed: you'll get your answer in this chapter.

I forgot to mention this, but Netto has a black backpack that she was keeping Forte's customized PET, a few spare changes of clothes, some money, and some other stuff.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Found

After a short pause in which Netto could only nod dumbly in response, the girl was invited inside and was given a cup of tea. Widening her mental connection with Forte, she took a small, careful sip. It was slightly sweet and a bit spicy, and it made Netto feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She smiled at the feeling, and could hear Forte humming quietly at the taste. Squeezing the link with Forte back to the size it was previously, Netto took another sip as she stared at the stairs that the woman, Hikari Haruka, used to get to the upper floor. Once she finished drinking, she set the empty cup onto the saucer.

Excitement welled up within her. Maybe Hikari Haruka knows who Netto's parents are. Maybe she _is_ Netto's _Mama I can't believe Netto's here! She's ac-_ _ **Netto…**_ _- lly here! Do you think she re-_ _ **Netto.**_ _-bers us!? I can't wait to see he-_ _ **Netto!**_

Netto jerked her head up, eyes wide open (when did she close them?), and almost fell off the sofa.

' _Wha-Forte? What happened?'_ Netto almost spoke out loud.

' _ **I don't know. What were you doing?'**_

' _I was…'_ Wait, why was she still excited? And what she heard…she focused on the slightly stronger bond between the voice and her. The feeling of excitement was from the voice, and those thoughts belonged to the voice as well. She stopped in case she gets caught up in the voice's emotions again and relayed her findings to Forte.

' _ **It's similar to what happened to us five years ago…'**_ The sound of footsteps drew their attention as the brown-haired lady came back down the stairs with a PET in hand.

"There's someone I would like you to meet." Haruka said as she set the PET down on the table, screen up. Netto leaned forward to look.

The navi in the PET wore a dark blue bodysuit with light blue stripes running down his sides. A helmet covered his head, and brown hair stuck out from under the helmet. ( _ **'Weak.'**_ _'That's not really fair. Everyone's weak compared to you.'_ _ **'Hmph.**_ ') He has green eyes and on his chest was…

Netto pulled her bandana from her pocket and glanced from the navi's emblem to the emblem on her bandana. They were the exact same.

The navi's eyes widened upon seeing the bandana.

"That's the bandana that you always loved to wear when you were little! Do you remember Mama and Papa!? Do you remember _me_?"

Netto, who was feeling a little overwhelmed, was momentarily saved by Haruka (Is she Mama?), who had told the navi "Rockman, calm down."

"No." said Netto, and looked away in guilt to avoid seeing Rockman's heartbroken face. "I'm sorry."

Something about Rockman's voice seems familiar, but she didn't want to think about that right now.

The room was silent for a while before Haruka let out a small gasp. Netto looked up at the woman, concerned.

"Is something wrong?" Netto asked.

"Do you have a place to stay, Netto?" Haruka asked her.

"Do I have a…" Netto mentally frowned. She had originally planned to explore the town a bit, then leave for the next town or city. She didn't exactly plan to find her birth family here. "…No."

"Then would you like to stay here? There's a spare room upstairs for you to use."

"Mama!?" Rockman sounded surprised. Netto couldn't blame him. Then again, that _was_ one way to get Netto to stay.

' _What do you think, Forte? Should we?'_

' _ **They're your family, you decide.'**_

' _But you're going to stay here too if I agree. I don't want to do something that you're against.'_

' _ **We'll stay, then. However, don't let any of them know of my existence. Don't show them the battle chips you have either.'**_

' _I don't really get why, but it's a promise!'_

"Are you going to stay, Netto?" Rockman asked the girl. He didn't want to see Netto disappear again. The first time was enough.

Netto blinked, then grinned. "Sure!"

Haruka left to get the spare room prepared, while Netto was thinking about the familiarity of Rockman's voice.

"…Ah!" She exclaimed, startling Rockman. Netto pointed at him. "You're the voice I keep on hearing! How do you do that!?" If she knew that, maybe it would give her a clue about why she has a bond with Forte!

"Ah, uh, um," Rockman stuttered, "It's because we have a twin link."

Netto stared. "What?"

Rockman fidgeted under the intensity of her stare. "I'm actually your twin brother, and that's why we have a twin link." Breathe in, breathe out. "Papa's coming home in a few days, and he can explain it better than I can, so you should wait until then."

"Alright then…" She said slowly.

' _Does that mean we're also twins, Forte?'_

 _ **'** **No.'**_

* * *

Five years ago was when Netto got caught up in Forte's emotions. The cause was the evolving of the bond between them. Netto had just interacted with Rockman, so their bond went through what was basically a level up.

The spare room was five year old Netto's room. Mama Hikari's been keeping it free of dust because she is a Good Mom.

Papa Hikari was supposed to come home a few weeks later, but he moved the homecoming forward because of an email he got from Rock that went something like

 _!PAPA!NETTTOS BACK!?COME HOME QUICKLY!_

But with more exclamation marks because fanfiction dot net is a jerk and won't let me make multiple exclamation marks in a row.


	3. Exploration

Netto hasn't known Mama Hikari for very long, which is why I will still refer to her as Haruka. Eventually, Haruka will change to Mama and Yuuichirou to Papa. But not now.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Exploration

Netto blinked slowly, eyes traveling from the ceiling to Rockman's PET, where it was recharging next to the computer, to the digital alarm clock on top of the drawers (3:14, it told her), and finally, to the black backpack that sat next to the bed. She had refused to let Haruka or Rockman see what was inside, let along touch it, so the entire family had gone shopping for clothes the next day. Maybe today Netto would look around Akihara Town more. It always helped if you knew the place you're going to live in.

Netto reached and grabbed hold of the backpack, mindful of the PET charger cord sticking out from the backpack. She rolled over to face the wall, and yawned as she squeezed the backpack like one would with a stuffed animal.

She'll think about it later.

* * *

Morning had Forte gently 'nudging' Netto awake. The girl yawned and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes.

'… _Good morning, Forte…'_ Netto reached over and unplugged the PET charger cord, stuffing it into her backpack.

' _ **Good morning, Netto. You've slept well?'**_ Forte asked as Netto got up from the bed and began picking out clothes to wear.

' _Yeah. It's better than some of the hotels we stayed at.'_ Netto took a look at Rockman's empty PET before she started to change. _'I wanted to explore Akihara Town more. What do you want to do?'_ There weren't many things Forte would want to do in the morning, but it never hurt to ask.

' _ **I'm coming with you.'**_ Netto smiled as she finished tying the new bandana around her head. Haruka had given her several identical bandanas, since the old one was too ragged.

' _Do you mind if I took Rockman with me as a guide?'_ Netto headed to the bathroom to wash up.

' _ **Rockman…'**_ The navi who claimed to be Netto's twin…which is ridiculous, because Netto's a human. _**'Might as well. He would know the area much better than us.'**_

Netto returned to her room and checked the contents of her backpack, nodding to herself once she saw that nothing was missing. Zipping the backpack closed and putting it on, she grimaced as a thought occurred to her.

' _What am I going to tell Grandpa?'_ Netto asked. The girl sent regular emails to her foster grandparent ever since she left in search of her birth parents.

' _ **I'll tell him that you are currently in Akihara Town.'**_ Forte was already writing out the email.

' _Can I tell him that I found my parents?'_ Even as Netto asked the question, she could feel Forte hesitate.

' _ **It…would be better if he doesn't know.'**_

' _I don't get it. What does he have against the Hikaris?'_

Forte had finished writing and editing the email. _**'I do not know all the details, but that old man believes that your grandfather has done him wrong, and that grudge seemed to extend to the entire Hikari family.'**_ He sent the email.

' _But if I'm also a Hikari, wouldn't that also mean…'_

"Ah, Netto-kun! You're already up! Good morning!" Netto looked over at Rockman's previously empty PET. The navi was waving at her.

Netto gave a small wave back. "Good morning."

Rockman noticed Netto's depressed mood and began to panic. "Are you okay? Was it something I said?"

Netto quickly shook her head. "No, it wasn't anything you said! I was just…thinking about stuff, that's all. Oh, and can you show me around town? I didn't get the chance to look around yet."

Rockman grinned happily. "Sure I can! But be sure to have breakfast first, ok? Mama already made you some."

Netto nodded, picked up Rockman's PET, and headed downstairs.

' _ **You had that bandana on when the old man found you.'**_ Netto froze for a moment, then entered the dining area, _**'He knew who you were, but he decided to raise you. I don't think that grudge applies to you.'**_

Netto smiled. _'Thanks for cheering me up, Forte.'_

"What are you smiling about?" Rockman asked.

Netto's smile grew larger and she thought she could hear Forte chuckling. "That's a secret."

* * *

"…and over there's the flower shop run by Saloma-san." Rockman pointed in the direction of the aforementioned shop.

Netto looked over, seeing the many flowers that decorated the inside of the shop. There was a woman inside, watering the plants. Could that be Saloma-san? Netto slowly skated onward, listening to Rockman and looking around at the stores and people. She ignored the people staring at her.

' _ **Your bandana has the emblem of Hikari Yuuichirou's. He has no known relatives except his wife and his missing child. Of course people will stare at you.'**_ Forte had answered when Netto asked.

"Here's Akihara High School!" Rockman announced, pointing in the direction of an impressive-looking building. Netto slowed to a stop and turned to look at the school.

"Hey, Rockman." Netto said. "What do you do at school?" She didn't look down at Rockman's PET, but could feel his confusion about the question, as well as Forte, who knew what she's considering, taking a closer look at the building.

"Well, you learn a bunch of stuff there, like math and history. There are other students your age there, so it's easy to make friends. Netbattling at school isn't allowed, though."

Netto hummed softly and started skating back to the Hikari home. Having been home-schooled, she has never been to a school before. Nor did she have any friends besides Forte.

' _ **You should go.'**_

' _Yeah?'_

' _ **It's always useful to have more knowledge. What the old man taught you won't be enough.'**_

' _I see…'_ Netto, having reached the house, took off the attachable roller skates and opened the front door.

"I'm back!" Netto called out as she entered. She paused at the sight of someone she didn't recognize sitting in the living room. Forte seemed to recognize him, judging by the way he stiffened.

"Welcome back." He said. Rockman perked up at the sound of the man's voice.

"Papa!" The navi cheered. Netto blinked, looking at the man again, and noticed an emblem on his jacket. The Hikari emblem. So this is…

' _ **Hikari Yuuchirou.'**_ Forte finished her line of thought. _**'A scientist who improved the PET's functions.'**_

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Yuuichirou asked.

Netto nodded and moved to sit on the sofa, taking slow breaths to calm herself.

"How are you?" He asked.

Netto blinked. "I'm good."

"What do you think about Akihara Town?"

"It's a nice place."

"Do you know where Forte is?" Netto froze.

"Forte?" She asked. _'What do I say?'_

' _ **Pretend you don't know me.'**_ Was his answer.

"Who's Forte?" Netto asked Yuuichirou. "Should I know that person?"

Yuuichirou looked confused. "You two were best friends. Do you not remember him?"

' _We were best friends back then?'_ Netto asked.

'… _ **Yes. I'll tell you later. Tell Yuuichirou about what happened five years ago.'**_

Netto kept the frown off her face from being told that she knew Forte for over ten years and instead thought about what had happened when she was ten. Something that explained why she wouldn't know Forte…

"I lost my memories when I was ten." Netto recalled. "I haven't remembered anything yet." Forte had strong regrets about that time whenever she mentions it.

"Really?" Yuuichirou looked thoughtful.

"How is Rockman my twin?" Netto couldn't help but ask. "He's a navi, and I'm…" She gestured at herself, and continued on. "And what happened when I was five?" A year ago, Forte had told her that she should go find her birth parents. After some prodding, she also learned that she had not seen them since she was five. That was the only reason that she went to look for them.

Yuuichirou looked down at Rockman, whose PET was flat on the table. Rockman looked horrified at the news of Netto's memory loss. He looked back up at Netto and started his explanation.

"Rockman was created from the DNA of Hikari Saito, who…died from a currently incurable disease called HBD. Saito was your twin, which means that Rockman is also your twin. The link between you two was established in order to find out if you were well, but it has its drawbacks. Damage dealt to one would be felt by the other. Do you understand?"

Netto nodded. It was like her link with Forte. And humans can become navi if their DNA was available…Forte was impressed by the advancement of technology and a bit disgusted in the creation of Rockman at the same time.

Yuuichirou continued. "As for when you were five, there was an incident involving Forte and his creator. You were at Sci-Labs at the time, and you were trying to save Forte. He was marked for execution, but you told him to get into the PET that I gave you. That had saved his life, and you ran away with him."

Netto smiled softly. "I didn't know that. I must have been really attached to Forte." Not that she isn't attached now. _'I wonder what I was like when I was little.'_

' _ **You were the most interesting brat I had ever seen.'**_ Netto almost laughed.

"I wonder where Forte has gone, though." Yuuichirou seemed to think about it, but then asked another question. "Have you been to school before?"

Netto shook her head. "No."

"Would you like to go to school?"

"Yes." Netto looked down at Rockman. "What about you, Rockman?"

Rockman was surprised at being included in this conversation, but nodded in affirmation. "Of course!"

"Then it's settled." Yuuichirou stood up. "I can get you registered in about a week. But before that…" He wandered over to the dinner table and sat down. "…Mama's made meat spaghetti for lunch."

Netto picked up Rockman's PET and joined him. "Meat spaghetti?"

"If you don't get any sauce on your clothes, you're lucky. " He informed her.

Haruka took her seat at the table, and the two adults told Netto stories of her childhood. That night she dreamed of her-no, _Forte_ , meeting a little brown-haired human girl for the first time.

And she didn't get any sauce on her clothes.

* * *

Netto got the attachable roller blades in Amerope, as well as attachable ice skates, when Forte wasn't paying attention. She made a game out of it, and managed to sneakily buy a wig and a cloak that reminded her of Forte's. She got a lecture afterwards every time, but it was worth it.

Rockman gives Netto the –kun honorific because she refers to herself as ' _ore'_ , which was picked up from Forte, who, if I remember correctly, also uses ' _ore_ '. It's a masculine pronoun. Forte was constantly with Netto, so it would make sense for them to pick up each other's speech pattern.

Dinner table? Coffee table? Table you eat food on.

I don't know how long it takes to become a student so don't trust me.

* * *

Extra:

The light of a PET screen softly illuminated the insides of the backpack it was in. The navi in the PET, cloak hiding the bodysuit and large fins that adorned the helmet the navi was wearing, pondered over the reason for Rockman's existence.

"A human's DNA that was used to create a navi…" He muttered to himself, and grimaced. It sounded a bit similar to _that_ abandoned project. Images began to pop up in his head, of horror, of guilt, of Netto being-

'… _Forte…?'_ It was Netto. _'Did you have a nightmare?'_

' _ **Navis can't get nightmares.'**_ Forte reminded her. He woke her up because he thought of _that_ again. _**'Go back to sleep, Net.'**_ The rarely used nickname slipped out.

'… _Alright. Good night, Foru.'_

Forte waited for a while, then: _**'I will do everything in my power to protect you.'**_ It was a promise.

There was no response. He prepared to go into sleep mode.

'… _I know.'_

He wasn't even surprised.

Netto was awake, holding onto her backpack. She thought about the promise Forte made to her. He always keeps his promises, so he would keep this one as well.

And maybe, maybe that was what scared her the most.


	4. Student

About Forte and Netto's nicknames for each other. 'Net' is easy enough to guess, since it came from Netto. The Japanese pronunciation of Forte is Forute, which is where 'Foru' comes from.

I'm thinking of adding little side stories here and there. Let me know what you think of that.

Guest: Thank you for the review. It made my day. Breaking your heart wasn't an intended effect, but thank you for the input.

Ai Star: From here on the story will be following the anime episodes.

Kitty Katrona: Thank you very much!

I will be going to China for three weeks after school ends, so don't expect me to answer anything during that period.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Student

The following week was filled with family bonding, Netto getting used to the fact that Rockman would publicly be her navi instead of Forte for an unknown amount of time, and Netto breaking the speed limit on roller skates escaping from the media.

The family bonding was a given, with Netto's reappearance and Yuuichirou's return. After Yuuichirou had finished Netto's student registration forms and visited Sci-Labs to explain that he would be gone longer than expected, the Hikari family had visited the local amusement park the next day.

Rockman being Netto's navi was also a given, because of Forte's reluctance in letting himself be recognized by Yuuichirou. Netto respects Forte's wishes, but she has plans to spend some time with Forte _somehow_.

The media, however, was not expected, but it should have been. When Yuuichirou went to Sci-Labs, he had mentioned Netto to one of his coworkers in conversation. When Yuuichirou left, the Sci-Lab employees had wondered who Netto was when someone had noticed that Netto and Yuuichirou's missing daughter had the same name. This is much like a chain reaction, starting from Yuuichirou's off-hand mentioning of Netto and somewhat ending with a local reporter overhearing the gossip.

This ended with more reporters than was expected who wanted interviews with Netto. And Netto, who gets nervous when she thinks she's attracting too much attention, had immediately skated away. This started a game of chase that lasted until Netto reached the Hikari home and almost ripped the door off its hinges trying to hurry inside.

Other than that, which was taken care of by Yuuichirou, the rest of the week was uneventful.

Yuuichirou had to return to his research on Sunday. The family was saying their goodbyes at the airport. Netto waited until Haruka and Yuuichirou were finished before going up to Yuuichirou and hugging him.

"Goodbye." She said, then added in a quieter voice. "Papa." Letting her arms drop to her sides, Netto took a step back. Yuuichirou immediately reached over and ruffled her hair, earning a squeak of protest from the girl.

"Do your best in school, alright?" Yuuichirou asked, retracting his hand and wearing that gentle smile that he always seems to have.

Netto grinned and nodded. "Of course!" Later, Haruka and Netto watched as the plane Yuuichirou boarded become a small speck in the sky.

Netto turned towards Haruka with an excited grin. "Let's go home, mama!" She hasn't felt this excited since the last time she did a Full Synchro with Forte.

Netto was so ready for school.

* * *

Netto was not ready for school.

The classroom was quiet, the only sound being the tapping and dragging of chalk on the blackboard. Netto was clutching onto her backpack straps. The teacher, Mariko-sensei, had finished writing out Netto's name and turned to the class. There was _so many_ people there, and they were all staring at Netto, which didn't help her nervousness at all. Rockman was introducing himself to the other navis. He seemed to be pretty excited.

 ** _'Take slow, deep breaths.'_** Forte advised. Forte was the best. Netto was so lucky to have him as a partner.

There was a silence in the classroom when the teacher stopped talking. Netto was probably supposed to introduce herself.

"M-my name is H-hikari Netto." She stuttered out, and winced. That could have gone better. The class started whispering among themselves.

 _'Netto-kun, are you okay?'_ Rockman asked though the link. He must have picked up her distress.

 _'No!'_ Netto responded rather cheerfully. _'I will be soon, so don't worry.'_

Rockman didn't seem very convinced, but a student had asked what she liked so she had to put the mental conversation on hold.

"I like to rollerskate." She began quietly. "And I like robots. Oh, and curry too." The questioning continued until Mariko-sensei has to stop them in order to continue the lesson.

Netto quickly walked to her assigned seat and sat down, resting her head on the desk with a sigh. It wasn't even lunch yet and she was already tired. School was _hard._ Hopefully the day would get easier. She half-listened to the teacher's lecture while staring at nothing.

* * *

Lunch time came around faster than she expected. Netto finally raised her head in order to get the lunch tray. She tried the soup first, a smile creeping across her face as she heard the purr-like noise Forte always makes when they have soup. As she ate, she glances at the pink-haired girl Netto sits next to. The pink-haired girl wore a blue vest over a green shirt, and was talking with a mostly pink navi.

"Your navi's really cute." Netto couldn't help but blurt out. _'The cutest I've seen.'_ Was what she said to Forte. He poorly hid a snort of amusement.

The girl and her navi looked over, surprised. They both blushed at the compliment.

"Thank you. I customized her myself." The girl said. "I'm Meiru and this is Roll." Meiru introduced herself and Roll, who piped up with a "Nice to meet you!"

"Netto-kun?" Netto turned to look at Rockman's PET. Rockman was looking at her curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Just telling Meiru-chan how cute Roll-chan is." Netto told him, enjoying the reappearance of Meiru and Roll's blushes. "This is Rockman." She said as Rockman waved a greeting. Netto then smiled innocently. "Meiru-chan's cute too." Wow, Forte's enjoying this as much as she is. Meiru's pretty red at this point. She could feel Rockman's embarrassment as well.

"Hikari Netto!" Someone shouted, startling Netto enough to drop her chopsticks. The person shouting was the one who sat behind Meiru and wore a green shirt. In his hand was a PET, the navi inside yelling out a "Guts, guts!"

"I challenge you to a-what are you doing?" The person stopped speaking. Netto had leaned over to take a look at the navi, not paying any attention to what was being said. She brightened at the sight of the navi's large form.

"Is your navi customized to concentrate on attack power? That's really interesting!" Netto froze upon realizing that most of the students' attention were on the three of them and slowly turned back around to face her unfinished lunch. Wiping her chopsticks clean, she quickly continued eating, face burning from being the center of attention.

"That's Dekao-kun and his navi, Gutsman." Meiru introduced the pair. Dekao seemed to still be in shock from what Netto had said. "What you said describes Gutsman pretty well. If you get hit by one of Gutsman's attacks, you'll take a lot of damage. He doesn't have much on speed or defense though, so it's easy to dodge him." Netto nodded in understanding.

 ** _'I doubt you'll have much trouble with him.'_** Forte said.

 _'That's only if Rockman is a battle navi.'_

"Hikari Netto!" Dekao repeated, pointing at her for emphasis. "I challenge you to a netbattle after school at Game Soul!"

Netto, who had finished her lunch, was about to accept. She paused as she remembered the promise she had made to Forte.

"Sorry, I can't. I don't have any battle chips." Netto said instead. _'Can you fight?'_ She asked Rockman.

 _'Of course I can!'_ He replied.

"I can help you pick some out." Meiru offered. Roll nodded in agreement.

"Really? That's nice of you." Netto smiled.

The warning bell rang just then, and Dekao had to cut off whatever he was about to say in order to cram food into his mouth as fast as he can.

* * *

"Why are you coming with us?" Netto couldn't help but ask Dekao. School has ended for the day, and Netto and Meiru were on their way to Game Soul, a game shop that doubles as an arcade, when Dekao had joined them.

Dekao scowled. "So I can netbattle you after you buy those battle chips, duh!" Then he smirked. "I bet those battle chips won't help you win against my Gutsman."

Forte gave a hiss of anger. Netto ignored Dekao in favor of trying to calm Forte down.

 _'No need to worry. He won't know what hit him.'_

 ** _'I know that.'_** He hasn't calmed down. Sounds like it's going to be Uranet training time later.

The trio entered Game Soul and headed towards the battle chips that were on display. After a discussion on recommended chips and keeping in mind the amount of money that Netto was allowed to use (thanks to Forte's somewhat strict budgeting because of her stunts in Amerope and Creamland), she purchased a couple of Swords, Shotguns, and Area Steals. Eyeing a Barrier chip, Netto decided to buy one of those as well.

"If you're done, let's have a netbattle!" Dekao impatiently said. Meiru had left earlier because of her piano lesson.

"Sorry, not today." Rockman responded, pulling up a list of homework Netto had to finish. There was a lot more on there than she expected. "Netto still has to finish the catch-up work _and_ today's homework. You can have the netbattle tomorrow."

"You heard him." Netto said, already halfway out the door and putting on the roller skates. She didn't really feel up to a netbattle right now. "Bye!" She quickly skated away.

* * *

"If x is…then y is…done!" Netto stopped typing and leaned back. She had just finished the last of her catch-up work. In the back of her head, she could hear Forte's maniacal laughter as he finished off yet another navi and absorbed their remains.

"Congratulations! You just have the homework left. Good luck!" Rockman cheered. Netto grinned, getting ready to type again.

Screams. Laughter. The feeling of 'getting full'. How many times has this been now?

 _'Are you doing alright?'_ Netto didn't think Forte was injured, but she could feel the fatigue setting in.

 ** _'I'm heading back now.'_** As Netto slowly worked towards completing the homework, Forte used a teleport ability to get back to the regular net from the Uranet. The section he arrived at was abandoned, but still glowed with color.

Netto yawned and rubbed her eyes, saving her homework and heading to the bathroom. Changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth, she then said a quick "Good night" to Rockman. Turning off the lights and burying herself under the blankets, her mind drifted to Forte as she fell asleep.

Forte looked around the abandoned part of the net. He could feel the link widening a little, as it tends to do when Netto's asleep. Forte took a step, and another, and another, looking around the net slowly. Netto sighed and smiled in her sleep, images of what Forte saw showing up as part of her dreams.

It was a good night.

* * *

Netto jerked awake to a scream from downstairs. Scrambling out of bed and rushing downstairs, she was met with the sight of Haruka shying away from the oven which was… _on fire_?

"Mama!" She shouted. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Haruka nodded. "I'm fine! But the oven…it suddenly caught fire!"

Netto looked around. _'Where's the fire extinguisher!?'_

 _'It's over by the counter!'_ Rockman quickly answered. Netto turned towards the counter. There it is! Grabbing the object, she pulled out the safety pin, aiming the nozzle at the oven and squeezed the trigger. The extinguishing agent seemed to kill the flames, but the oven then sparked with electricity and the fire returned to its original height.

"What's going on? Why won't the fire die?" Netto asked no one in particular.

 _'Netto-kun! The computer must be busted. Plug me in, quickly!'_ Passing the fire extinguisher to her mother, Netto rushed back upstairs.

Grabbing Rockman's PET and running downstairs, where Haruka was trying to put out the fire, Netto hurriedly plugged Rockman into the oven's computer when the fire was lower. Just then, Forte's PET turned on.

 ** _'G-what's going on?'_** Forte asked.

 _'I'll explain later!'_ Netto replied back, backing up before the fire could burn her. She took a look at Rockman's PET screen and gasped. "Why are there so many viruses?"

"I don't know, but I think I can take them all down." Raising his buster up, Rockman aimed and fired. None of his shots missed. Soon, the area was clear of anything out of the ordinary. Except for the fire that was still burning in the corner. As Rockman stepped towards the fire, he noticed a silhouette that resembled a navi in the flames before it disappeared. The oven's fire died down, leaving it all burnt.

"Rockman, I'm plugging you out now." Netto said. Rockman nodded and pixelated back into the PET. "I didn't know you could fight that well."

"There are a lot of people who try to hack into Sci-Labs. I'm usually the one who keeps them from accomplishing it." Checking the time, he blinked. "Netto-kun, you should hurry and get ready for school."

"Eh?" Rockman silently brought up the clock. "Eh!? It's that late already!? Shoot!" Netto scrambled up the stairs, already in the process of taking her pajama top off.

 ** _'Now?'_** How impatient.

 _'Well…'_

* * *

 _'There was a navi?'_ Netto asked Rockman. Class was in session, and everyone had their laptops out. Forte had warned her to not be so reckless when he had been told of the situation.

 _'Yeah. I couldn't see him all that well, but he's probably the one behind the oven incident.'_

 _'That would mean that the operator was the one who's responsible. Or...'_ No, it wouldn't be an independent navi. Independent navis tend to keep to themselves, avoiding trouble. And there wasn't much to gain from setting ovens on fire.

 _'Or?'_

 _'No, it's nothing.'_ Netto looked over at Meiru. She held Roll's PET in her hand, and Netto could make out bits of conversation between Roll and Gutsman. Stuff like "date," "piano lesson," "no chance," and "Roll Flash!"

Dekao yelped and stood up, earning a reprimand from Mariko-sensei about how asking someone out on a date should be done after school.

Netto leaned towards a giggling Meiru and whispered "Is this normal?"

"It happens at least once a month." Meiru whispered back.

Other than that, class went by smoothly. After school, Dekao approached Netto for a netbattle, which she agreed to. The two made their way to Game Soul and plugged their navis in at an empty fight table.

"Plug-in! Rockman, transmission!"

"Plug-in! Gutsman, transmission!"

The two navis appeared on the field in a burst of light. There was a moment of silence, then:

"Gutsman, attack!" Dekao shouted.

"Dodge it, Rockman!" As Gutsman swung his fists, Rockman avoided the attacks and leaped back each time.

 ** _'Is he relying on brute force?'_** Forte wondered. **_'Or…Netto!'_**

Rockman had been backed up against a corner that prevented him from moving anywhere but forward, where Gutsman was.

"Battle chip, Megaguts Punch, slot in!" Gutsman's fist enlarged and he punched at Rockman. "I've got you now!" Dekao shouted.

 ** _'Block him.'_**

"Block him!" Surprisingly, Rockman easily caught the punch and pushed Gutsman back. Netto grinned. "Our turn to go on the offensive now!" Rockman nodded in agreement and began attacking.

 ** _'Netto,'_** Forte sighed. **_'That wasn't what I meant when I told you to block him.'_**

 _'Eh? Then what…oh, the Barrier chip! I forgot about that! Sorry.'_

"How would Gutsman be losing to someone so small!?" Dekao cried out in dismay. Netto scowled and glared at him.

"A navi's size can't tell you how strong it is!" She took a random battle chip from her pocket, glancing at it briefly. "Battle chip, Shotgun, slot i-"

"Help!" Surprised, Rockman and Gutsman stopped their fight and looked around the arena. There was a beam of light that was shot down between the two navis. It dissipated, revealing Roll.

"Meiru-chan, Meiru-chan is-" Roll broke off into a sob.

"What happened to Meiru-chan?" Netto and Rockman asked at the same time. Wordlessly, Roll brought up a screen that showed Meiru coughing in a room full of smoke.

"That's like what happened this morning!" Netto exclaimed. "Roll-chan, take Rockman to Meiru-chan's house. I'll catch up with you guys." Roll nodded and pixelated away with Rockman.

"Dekao-kun!" Netto turned towards the boy, whose navi had also left for Meiru's house. "Hurry up! I need you to help me get to Meiru-chan's house!" The two raced out of Game Soul, Netto skating only a few feet behind Dekao's scooter. They reached their destination in what must be record time. Dekao had to take a breather as Netto slipped off her skates and sprinted to the front door. It was locked. Netto cursed and grabbed one of the chairs that was out on the lawn. Running to the nearest window, she threw the chair, breaking the window and triggering the burglar alarm. Netto climbed inside, cutting her hands on the glass shards.

 ** _'Netto-'_** Forte began.

 _'You can yell at me for being reckless later. I need to save Meiru-chan now!'_ Netto rushed through the rooms and came to the kitchen where Meiru is.

 ** _'…Use the front door this time.'_**

 _'Thanks, Forte.'_ Netto helped Meiru stand and made her way to the door. Smoke billowed out as she unlocked and opened the door. Dekao ran forward, helping Netto support Meiru.

"Dekao-kun, take care of Meiru-chan!" Netto began to run back inside the smoking house.

"Netto-kun, wait!" Meiru coughed.

"I'll be fine!" Netto took Rockman's PET out as she made her way to the kitchen, where the source of the smoke should be. Rockman's hit points were decreasing faster than she thought.

 ** _'Must be from that navi Rockman mentioned.'_**

 _'Which means that I need to get to where he is and give him a battle chip before his hit points reach zero!'_ Coughing from the smoke, Netto plugged the PET into the oven. "Rockman, I'm here now!"

"Netto-kun!" Rockman smiled in relief. Netto finally got a good look at Rockman's opponent.

 _'Uwaah, a fire-type navi!'_

 ** _'Netto. Now's not the time.'_**

 _'I know that!'_ Netto most definitely didn't pout. She broke into coughs again. _'I need to finish this quickly, so…'_

"Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!" Rockman's left arm formed into a buster and he fired at the navi. Their opponent staggered. "Next! Battle chip, Sword, slot in!" Changing from a buster to a sword, Rockman easily sliced off the fire navi's arm, causing him to plug out. With that, the fire was extinguished.

* * *

"Who was that navi, anyway?" Netto asked. Meiru had been sent to the hospital. Netto had hurried home and cleaned the injuries on her hands. There were a large number of cuts that had to be bandaged, and both of her hands were wrapped in white when she finished. Of course, that earned her another lecture from Forte.

"He said his name was Fireman." Rockman responded, faintly aware of the stinging from the cuts.

"Fireman, huh?" Netto murmured. _'Hey Forte, didn't Fireman look kind of familiar?'_

There was a long pause. **_'No.'_**

Forte was clearly lying. But why?

"Netto-kun, you got an email from Meiru-chan." Rockman said. Netto lifted her head from the pillow to look at him.

"What does it say?" She asked.

"She wants to know if you want to hang out tomorrow after school."

"Sure!" Netto grinned.

 ** _'Today's Tuesday, isn't it?'_** Forte spoke up.

 _'Yeah. Why do you ask?'_ Forte went quiet again. Netto waited a while before turning back to talk to Rockman.

 ** _'How lucky you are to fight Fireman on a Tuesday.'_**

Netto raised an eyebrow. _'What does Tuesday have to do with fighting Fire…wait…Tuesday…Fireman…'_ She snorted and started laughing. She could feel Forte's amusement and pride for making a good joke, which made her laugh even more.

"Netto-kun?" Oh, that was Rockman.

"We fought Fireman on a Tuesday!" Netto couldn't help but laugh out.

"Eh..?" Rockman thought about it. "Is it really that funny?"

"Of course!"

It was a good start to school.

* * *

Japanese schools usually have lunch in the classrooms. This is common in elementary and middle schools, but I don't really know if it's the same in high schools.

Since chips like Swords and Area Steals seem to be really common, they should be very cheap. So Forte feels a bit better about Netto being able to netbattle and won't use up too much money.

In the Japanese language, the days of the week are named after the five elements, except Sunday and Monday, which can be translated to Sun Day and Moon Day. Saturday is Earth Day, Friday is Gold Day, Thursday is Wood Day, and Wednesday is Water Day. The thing about Forte's joke is that Netto and Rockman fought _Fire_ man on Tuesday, which is Fire Day in Japanese. And Netto doesn't hear jokes from Forte very often, which makes the joke even funnier to her.


	5. Pet

I'm back with a new chapter. Yay. Okay, moving on.

Dekao likes to show off about being the strongest in class, so when there's a new kid, of course he's going to challenge them. Especially when the new kid seems to be flirting with Meiru-chan. Too bad it backfired.

Pippalina: I hardly mentioned Netto's grandpa and you're already guessing? Nice. Also, there wasn't any kidnapping. Netto just ran away with Forte because they're best friends, Sci-Labs was trying to delete Forte, and Netto wasn't going to let Forte get deleted. They got picked up by the grandpa sometime later. No WWW involved.

Ai Star: I would like to remind everyone who's reading any story ever that the author's notes is a good place to get more info.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Pet

"Why did you guys come here? Go home already!" Dekao groaned from his place on the hospital bed.

"Don't be like that!" Meiru reprimanded. "We were worried when Gutsman said that you were injured! Even Netto-kun came over to see you!"

It was Wednesday, the day after Netto and Rockman defeated Fireman and stopped the oven incidents from continuing. They, along with Meiru and Roll, are currently at the hospital to visit Dekao and drop off his homework.

' _ **Ungrateful brat.'**_ Forte snarled as Dekao slammed his PET screen-down.

' _You really don't like him, huh?'_ Curiosity getting the better of her, Netto leaned down and lifted the blanket up, trying to see what kind of injury Dekao got.

This caught his attention. "Stop that!"

Surprised, Netto leaped back and snapped her hands to her sides. One hand still held the blanket, which slipped off the bed and pooled onto the floor. There was a stunned silence in which the two girls present stared disbelievingly at Dekao's injury. Or rather, the cause of it.

A robot cat.

Netto snorted, then started laughing, Forte's amusement leaking through their link and mixing with her own. Meiru covered her mouth and giggled quietly.

"You guys, stop laughing!" Dekao complained. Netto, now only smiling, bent down to pick up the blanket and set it on Dekao.

"Sorry, but…" Meiru took another glance at the cat, then started laughing again. "You were bitten by your toy cat!"

"It was supposed to catch rats…" Dekao grumbled, face turned away from them.

' _ **It's done its job rather well.'**_ Netto allowed herself another laugh at Forte's comment.

"So, why is it still on?" She asked. Meiru and Dekao stared at her in surprise. Netto fidgeted, asking again in a quieter voice. "I mean, why haven't you turned it off yet? It would have kept you from visiting the hospital."

Dekao looked at the cat, then to the wall.

"…You don't know how to?" Netto guessed. Meiru nodded. After a moment, Dekao nodded as well.

Netto sighed. "Well, with these models, the off switch is usually…" She reached over and stuck a finger in the cat's ear. There was a click, and the cat went limp. "…there."

"Wow," Meiru gasped. "You're really good at this."

"No, this is just basic stuff." Netto slowly pried open the cat's jaws and removed it from Dekao's leg, leaving four small bloody holes where the fangs used to be. "You should get that looked at, Dekao-kun. It could get infected." As Dekao gave a shout of panic, Netto headed to the bathroom to wash the blood off the cat's mouth.

* * *

"This is…Saloma-san's flower shop?" Netto asked. Meiru had wanted to hang out together, and the flower shop is where she wanted to go. Forte was in his PET, due to there not being a chance for Netto to plug him into the Uranet.

"Yep!" Meiru nodded. "She makes the best teas. Come on!" She took Netto's hand and dragged her into the shop.

Inside, Netto took the time to look around while Meiru went to talk to Saloma. It was what one would expect from a flower shop. Full of flowers. As she turned to look around more, something at the window caught her eye. Netto blinked, and it was gone.

' _ **You aren't imagining things.'**_ Netto nodded thoughtfully.

' _It looked…kind of blue? Maybe it was just someone walking past.'_

"Netto-kun!" Meiru called out, catching Netto's attention. Meiru was at a small table, waving at her. Netto went over, propped Rockman's PET up, and took a seat. Moments later, Saloma came by to drop off two steaming cups of tea.

"So, is Dekao-kun doing alright?" The shop owner asked.

"He was when we left." Meiru confirmed. "Especially after Netto-kun got that mouse hunter off his leg."

"That's amazing, Netto-kun." Saloma gave Netto a considering look, which just gives Forte excuses to send Netto alarm sounds. She retaliated by sending an image of the red traffic light right outside the shop.

"Yeah, even I didn't know you could do that!" Rockman joined in. Netto blushed, and tried to hide it by taking a sip of tea.

"No it's not." She denied, setting the teacup back onto the saucer. "It's just logical. Most machines have emergency off switches. And for a model like that mouse hunter, it would have to be in a place that can't be bumped into very easily. So, inside the ear."

Meiru, Roll, Rockman, and even Saloma were giving her awed looks. Netto blushed again, her cheeks light pink, which quickly darkened to red as she felt the intensity of Forte's pride.

"By the way," Roll spoke up. "Why was Dekao-kun attacked by the mouse hunter?" Netto gave a small sigh of relief as Roll became the center of attention. That didn't stop Forte from transmitting his feelings through their link, but she was used to it.

"Could it be the work of WWW again?" Meiru suggested. Netto didn't miss the look Saloma had when WWW was mentioned.

"What's WWW?" Netto asked. She might have heard it somewhere before, but couldn't remember where.

Meiru looked shocked. "You haven't heard of WWW?" Netto shook her head.

"This past week, Netto-kun was too busy to watch the news." Rockman explained.

"And before that," Netto added. "I was constantly traveling, so I didn't have the chance to watch the news either."

"Ohh…"

"WWW is a powerful organization that uses networks to commit crimes." Saloma cut in, clasping her hands together. "The members are currently unknown, but one of them started the series of spontaneous fires. Be careful, you two. Don't get mixed up with them, alright?" She smiled, then left to assist a customer.

"I haven't had the chance to tell you this yet," Meiru began. "But thank you for saving me yesterday. You got those injuries because of me, right?"

Netto looked down at her hands, which were still covered in white bandages. A high pain threshold ensured that she wouldn't be able to feel the wounds much now, but her grip was weakened as a result of the bandages.

"It's fine. I hardly feel a thing." Netto smiled. "Sorry about the window, by the way."

They laughed, finished their teas, and headed out.

As the two wandered the streets, there was a yell from behind them. A screech of bicycle wheels later, and they were face to face with a man with a fish apron.

"Oh, Masa-san!" Meiru greeted. To Netto, she explained. "Masa-san's the local fish seller around here. He's known for not being all that knowledgeable about technology."

"That stuff's too complicated for me." Masa waved off. He jabbed a finger at Netto. "So who's this?"

"I'm, uh, Hikari Netto." Netto spoke up shyly. "It's…nice to meet you?"

Masa gave her a look of suspicion.

' _Please don't.'_ She told Forte, who was probably going to send her more alarm sounds. The small wave of disappointment proved it.

"So," Masa started, turning back to Meiru. "Where's Dekao? He didn't come by today."

"Dekao-kun's in the hospital." Meiru informed him. "He's-"

"What!?" Masa interrupted. "I bet he hasn't taken enough calcium."

"Um, calcium has nothing to do with…"

"With his size, it's bad if he doesn't get enough. And now that he's fallen ill…" Masa muttered to himself, seemingly unaware of Meiru's attempts to correct him. "Alright! Hang in there Dekao, I'm going to prepare some fish for you!" With that, he biked off.

"It's City Center General Hospital!" Meiru called after him, then sighed and smiled at Netto. "That's Masa-san for you…oh, look over there. In front of the antique shop." She pointed to a figure across the street.

Netto stared. "Is that Mariko-sensei?"

Meiru nodded as Mariko-sensei entered the shop. "Let's follow her."

They crossed the street and peeked through the window of the shop. Netto could see the shop owner, but a curtain kept her from seeing whoever else was in there.

"So Mariko-sensei likes antiques?" Netto asked, glancing at the various pots and plates that decorated the interior. Nothing particularly interesting to her.

"No, I don't think that's it." Meiru moved over to the door. "The lady who works here's known for her fortune telling." She walked into the shop. Netto followed. "Mariko-sensei!"

"Gah!" The teacher peeked out from behind the screen, then hid herself.

Netto walked up to the counter, taking note of the woman behind it and the crystal ball. "Mariko-sensei, since you're getting your fortune told, are you worried about something?"

"N-no, of course not!" Mariko-sensei denied.

"Can you tell me my fortune?" Meiru asked. Mariko-sensei sighed. From what, Netto couldn't tell.

"Are you sure the fortune's accurate?" The question came with a skeptical tone.

"Silence…"

Netto clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing in embarrassment. _'Forte, don't just do that out of nowhere!'_

'… _ **Sorry. I was curious.'**_

' _Just tell me next time?'_

"Water…" The fortune teller mumbled. Netto let her hands drop back to her sides.

"Water?" Netto, Meiru, and Mariko-sensei asked at almost the same time.

"I see flowing water." As if that explains anything.

' _ **On a Wednesday?'**_

' _Shush, you.'_

The fortune teller looked up at Netto. "Who might you be?"

"Me?" Netto blinked, then smiled. "I'm Hikari Netto. It's nice to meet you."

"Your net navi…"

"My net navi?" Netto tensed. "What about him?" She had to be talking about Rockman, right? There's no way she would know about Forte…

"What if your net navi…" She was interrupted by a shout of pain from outside.

Netto frowned. "Doesn't that sound like…"

Meiru sighed. "Yeah, it's Dekao-kun. We should go see what's wrong." With only a backwards glance from Netto, the three left the shop. Outside, Dekao was clutching at his bandaged leg, which also had a robot dog biting onto it.

'… _ **Again?'**_

' _Seems like it.'_

"Let go, let go!" Dekao yelled, shaking his leg up and down until the dog leaped away. It snarled, charged at Mariko-sensei, and successfully snatched her bag.

"My bag!" The teacher wailed as the dog ran off. Netto immediately snapped on her roller blades and chased after the robot.

"We'll get your bag back." Meiru hastily said before racing off after the two.

* * *

The two girls gasped for breath as they barely made it into the train where the dog was.

' _ **Maybe you need training as well.'**_

Netto groaned. _'Let's talk about it later.'_ Spotting the dog, she carefully approached it and held out a hand. It nuzzled against the bandaged skin and made a high-pitched whine. Taking the bag was easier than she expected. "It's acting totally different now…"

Meiru joined her. "It's like that cat fr-wah!" She yelped as the train shook unexpectedly. Glancing up at the screen above the door, she gasped. "Netto-kun, look at the speed!"

The numbers on the screen were rising fast, well past the speed limit. "What the…"

The robot dog ran up to the door leading to the front of the train and barked. Netto nodded. "Don't worry, we'll find out what happened."

Meiru blinked. "You can understand it?"

"No, I just guessed."

"Oh."

As they entered the first carriage, they could see people banging on the conductor's door. Netto picked up a fire extinguisher. An unconscious conductor, a locked door with a glass window, and a fire extinguisher. Hmm…

' _ **Same thing as yesterday?'**_

' _Why not?'_ Netto smirked, and yelled. "Out of the way!"

Once the passengers are on the sides of the train, Netto charged towards the door and threw the fire extinguisher as hard as she can. It crashed into the window and slid down, the window crumbling soon after. Using Netto as a stool, the robot dog jumped through the opening. Moments later, the door slid open.

Netto quickly patted the dog on the head before asking someone to help her get the conductor out. As soon as that happened, she sat in the conductor's seat, taking in all of the switches on the panel.

"Do you know how to control this thing?" Meiru asked from beside her. Netto groaned. Of course not, that wasn't something she had to learn.

The alarm sounded. Netto looked up. There was another train up ahead and unless this train slows down, they were going to crash.

Netto muttered something in Creamland's language under her breath and got a sharp 'poke' from Forte. _**'Language.'**_

' _It's perfectly suitable in this situation! And it's not like you don't do it too!'_

A sigh. _**'I suppose.'**_

' _Ha!'_

"Netto-kun, I think…" Meiru gulped, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think we're going to crash."

"…Yeah." The other train looked so close, too close. And then it took the left track. They went right. "That…was way too close for comfort."

"Netto-kun. Netto-kun!" Rockman called from his PET. "Plug me in. I'll investigate the system and see what happened."

"Alright. Plug in, Rockman! Transmission!" Connecting Rockman's PET to the train, Netto sat back with a shaky sigh. Forte widened their link, bringing them close, but not quite, to Full Synchro. Netto appreciated the gesture. It was comforting, extremely so after the thought that they were going to crash had seemed too real.

"Netto-kun, a computer virus infected the system." Rockman reported after a few minutes.

Netto reluctantly brought the link with Forte back to its normal size. "So that's why the train went out of control?"

' _ **What unreliable security they have here.'**_

' _We already know that.'_

"I'm sorry, but I can't stop the train." Rockman was saying. "You need to get all the passengers to the last carriage."

Netto nodded. "Got it." Disconnecting and stuffing the PET back into its holster, Netto and Meiru began to herd everyone to the back of the train. It didn't take as long as Netto thought it would. Must be because it's getting very close to being a life or death situation.

' _Rockman? I got all the passengers into the last carriage. What do I do now?'_

' _Detach the first carriage. After that, the train will stop on its own.'_

Netto frowned. But that would mean that Rockman would be left behind. _'…Got it.'_

' _ **You're planning on joining Rockman, aren't you.'**_ It wasn't a question. Forte already knew that Netto has made up her mind.

' _Yep. You're not gonna stop me?'_ He won't, Netto could tell.

He snorted. _**'You won't let yourself die so easily.'**_

Netto grinned. They knew each other so well. _'Of course not.'_

Tugging on the switch that would detach the carriages, Netto growled. "It's not moving!" And her entire body's tingling now. Which means that Rockman's in trouble.

' _ **Check the sides.'**_

' _The sides?'_

"Netto-kun, the safely locks on the sides!" Meiru called out.

"Oh, these." Netto turned the safety locks off, then pulled at the switch again. It popped up easily, and Netto fell back, losing her grip.

' _ **You need to hurry or you won't make it.'**_ The front car was already pulling ahead.

Netto quickly got to her feet. _'I know!'_ Running start, then jump! For a brief moment, she thought she made it.

But then her foot slipped.

Netto yelled in surprise as she fell and started to slide backwards. Forte panicking wasn't helping at all. Meiru's fading scream didn't help either. Something landed on her backpack and jumped off. The robot dog. It bit into her sleeve and started to pull her towards safety. She grabbed on to the upright switch and shakily sat up.

The dog whined, rubbing its head against her leg. Netto pet it, smiling. "Thanks." _'Can I keep it?'_

' _ **You already have enough projects to keep you busy.'**_ Forte's voice was tight.

Netto momentarily pulled him into Full Synchro, their version of a hug. _'I'm fine now. See?'_

'… _ **We're both going to the Uranet later.'**_

Netto laughed. _'Sure.'_ Slowly standing up, she made her way to where Rockman was, and connected his PET to the system. "Barrier, slot in!"

Sure enough, a transparent shield popped up around Rockman, and protected him from the lightning attack that would have deleted him.

His face lit up. "Netto-kun!"

"Sorry for the wait, Rockman." Netto held up a chip. "Ready to turn this around?"

"Of course!"

Netto grinned. "Alright! Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!" Rockman's arm instantly formed into a buster and he fired. The opponent cried out in pain. "Battle chip, Sword, slot in!" Rockman's buster reformed into a sword, and their opponent brought out an Elec Sword. Rockman charged. The other navi, the thunder elemental navi, raised their sword up high and slashed downward.

' _ **That was foolish.'**_ Forte commented as the thunder elemental navi was forced to log out.

' _Yeah, that's not a good plan for a charging opponent.'_ An alarm sounded. They were reaching the end point. "And we're going to crash if I don't stop this train!"

"Switch to manual mode and use the brakes!" Rockman shouted. Netto did exactly that, then shoved the brakes forward and braced herself. Several of the buttons on the control panel exploded.

' _ **We're too close to prevent a crash!'**_

' _Then how about this?!'_ Netto tilted the train, hoping that the friction will slow it down in time. She could see the end point now. It was coming closer…

And closer…

And then the train stopped moving. Netto heaved a sigh, picked up Rockman's PET, and opened the door. She paused at the sound of footsteps. The doors sild open and she was thrown back from the force of the water.

"Netto-kun, that fortune teller was right!" Rockman exclaimed from…wherever his PET landed.

"Hah?"

"You know, about the flowing water!"

Netto groaned.

* * *

Judging from the beginning of this episode and comparing it to the end of the first episode, it's reasonable to believe that the Dekao scene took place the night of Fireman's first defeat. Then again, Netto could have easily beaten Dekao many times if there was a time skip, but it would make more sense in this story if it happened in the course of one day or so. Then we would be able to see the gradual friendship building Netto gets.

Most readers would know what Masa, Saloma, and Miyuki do in their free time. And in their point of views, it would be very suspicious that Hikari Yuuichirou's daughter just suddenly showed up after ten years of fruitless searching. And that Yuuichirou would trust her almost immediately.

Forte and Netto usually communicate with words, but sometimes images and sounds are more appropriate. So here's the translation for their 'conversation' in Saloma's shop.

Forte: Alarm sounds. Basically 'be careful'. He tends to do that whenever someone's being suspicious.

Netto: Red traffic light. Means 'stop'. Because the alarm sounds are loud and can get annoying really easily.

* * *

Extra:

"Netto-kun, are you alright?" Meiru asked the day after the train incident.

Netto blinked. "Yeah? Why do you ask?" Come to think of it, Rockman was asking the same thing that morning.

Meiru bit her lip. "There's scratches all over your face. They weren't there yesterday."

Netto froze. _'Forte, during our training in the Uranet, did we…?"_

' _ **Hm? I think that was more from the sand than from other navis.'**_

"Netto-kun, if you're in trouble, you should go tell someone!" Meiru fretted.

Shaking her head, Netto replied. "N-no! It's nothing like that! I just…" Her mind raced for a suitable excuse. Forte gave her one. "I just fell off the bed! Multiple times!"

Meiru looked doubtful. "If you say so…"

Netto sighed in relief. Then to Forte. _'That was a terrible excuse.'_

' _ **You couldn't come up with a good one.'**_

' _True.'_


	6. Trap

Ai Star: Thank you very much, I aim to please.

Forte was the one who said the line, "Are you sure the fortune's accurate?" Yes, he says it through Netto. No, this will not be explained immediately. However, please note that Netto's bond with Forte is stronger than the one with Rockman, so Forte has more options available when using the bond. This includes their ability to Full Synchro, something that Netto can't do yet with Rockman.

Sadly for Netto, the robot dog had to be returned to the store it escaped from. But Dekao still has the mouse hunter that Netto also likes.

It's to be noted that Netto can speak a variety of languages because her grandpa taught her, which is why she knows a curse in Creamland's language. How many languages does she know? That will never be specified.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Trap

Netto happily hummed as she skated towards school, occasionally twirling around for fun. The past few days have been peaceful, no WWW in sight. Nor was she caught up in anything serious. Which meant that she had plenty of time to work more on one of her hobbies.

"Good morning, Netto-kun!" Meiru came up to Netto on her scooter. Taking a look at what was perched on Netto's shoulder, she slowly added. "You know pets aren't allowed at school…right?"

Netto blinked before realizing that Meiru was talking about the yellow bird on her shoulder. The one that's currently nuzzling against her head and cooing lovingly. "Oh, Ikazuchi's not a pet. Here, want to pet it?" Raising her arm up so it was parallel to the ground, she let the bird hop its way to her wrist, fluttering its wings every once in a while to keep itself steady. "Be nice, Ikazuchi."

Ikazuchi chirped indignantly, but obediently lowered its head. Meiru gently patted it, a look of confusion crossing her face as she did so. "It's metal?"

"Yup!" Netto nodded as Ikazuchi flew back to her shoulder. "I made it myself. I did say that I like robotics, right?"

"You did." Meiru confirmed. "But why are you bringing it to school?"

Netto laughed. "I didn't. Ikazuchi followed me. I found out when we were halfway to school, so I decided to bring it along the rest of the way." Taking her backpack off and unzipping it, she told Ikazuchi. "Since you're not even supposed to be coming with me, you need to get in here and stay quiet. Go into sleep mode or shut down if you want. Oh, and try not to ruin anything."

The bird cooed sadly, then tried to give her a look. Which didn't work very well, since its face can't express itself that well.

Netto failed to contain her smile, and Forte's amusement made itself known. " _Ikazuchi._ " Slowly, Ikazuchi shuffled over and hopped into the backpack, emitting a low, drawn out beep to indicate that it was going into sleep mode.

Zipping the backpack closed, Netto gave Meiru a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. Ikazuchi's only a few days old."

Meiru shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's amazing that you can build something like that."

Netto blushed. "Uh, thank you?" Her voice rose until it ended in a squeak.

Meru giggled. "By the way," She added, changing the subject, "Have you heard about the new transfer student?"

Netto raised an eyebrow. It's only been a week or two since she got here. "No. Does Akihara High School usually have this many transfer students?"

"No." Meiru denied. "You two are probably the most we've had for the past few years. I've overheard that this new transfer student's supposed to be the daughter of Gabcom's president."

"Gabcom?" That caught Forte's attention, and he sent her a quick summary in case she didn't remember. "You mean that video game company?"

Meiru didn't get a chance to respond, because that was when Dekao came up and greeted her. Netto turned her eyes back to the front, and blinked when she saw a limo pull up to the school.

' _Did that happen before?'_

' _ **No. Must be the transfer student.'**_ There was an irritated feeling as they watched a small girl come out from the limo and walk to the school's entrance on a red carpet. _**'And a spoiled rich brat too. Great.'**_

Netto snorted in amusement.

* * *

"I'd like to introduce you to a new classmate." Mariko-sensei announced after she wrote the name of the transfer student on the board. "From now on she'll be attending our class." Netto sighed. How lucky that the new student is in the same class as her.

The transfer student calmly introduced herself. "My name's Ayanokouji Yaito."

' _She didn't stutter like I did.'_ Netto whined. She got a soft 'poke' for that.

' _ **You hardly had any interaction with other humans outside of business.'**_

Netto pouted a bit, turning her attention back to class. _'…Wait, when did we start watching a video about the transfer student?'_

' _ **About four seconds ago.'**_

' _And…why is it an hour long?'_

' _ **She's probably the type who likes to show off.'**_

Forte was right about that. In math class, Yaito wrote down an incredibly long equation that wasn't even in the lesson. In foreign languages class she used a bunch of adjectives in an already long sentence that was probably better off without them.

Netto sighed, writing down the sentence that they were supposed to be translating into Amerope's language down onto a sheet of paper, then wrote down the translation. After a moment, she decided to write the sentence down in other languages. And then, when she was finished with that, Netto started doodling Ikazuchi.

The lunch bell rang just as Netto finished the details of one of Ikazuchi's wings. She slipped the paper into her backpack, not expecting to look at it again anytime soon. After the standard "Thanks for the meal", Netto started her lunch.

"What's the matter, Yaito-chan?" She heard the teacher ask. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No, Sensei." Yaito answered back. There was the sound of someone snapping their fingers. The classroom door opened and waiters came in with a serving cart.

' _Were they just waiting outside for Yaito-chan's signal?'_ Netto couldn't help but wonder as she, along with the rest of the class, watched what was happening at Yaito's desk. _'And do people really put strawberry milk in wine bottles?'_

' _ **They must not have waited long, since that steak is still warm.'**_ The delicious smell that the steak gave off only served to irritate Forte more. _**'Finish your lunch, Net.'**_

' _Foru, of course I will. I like food.'_ There was silence for a while as Netto ate, then. _'By the way, did Grandpa reply back yet after I told him I was going to school?'_

Forte briefly skimmed through Netto's email accounts, both her business account and the private one that she only shared with Grandpa. _**'He's alright with you going as long as you don't accidentally tell someone your last name. He also wants you to visit during winter vacation.'**_

' _Isn't that around the time that the rumored tournament's going to start?'_ Having finished her lunch, Netto was now, to anyone looking, staring off into space.

' _ **It seems so.'**_ Forte said after comparing dates. _**'Perhaps he has something to say that relates to the tournament?'**_

' _Mmh, maybe.'_

' _ **Oh, and there's a new email in your business account. It's about one of your newest projects.'**_

' _Really?'_ Netto can't help but let the excitement flow through their link. _'What does it say?'_

* * *

"Hey, Netto-kun." Dekao came up to her desk after the bell rang for the end of school. "Wanna go see Yaito-chan's house together?"

"Huh?" Netto blinked. Oh, right. Meiru had her piano lesson today. "Oh, sure."

' _ **Are you sure about this?'**_

' _We're just going to see her house. It'll be fine.'_

And that's how the two of them, plus an out of sleep mode Ikazuchi, ended up right outside the Ayanokouji house.

Netto whistled appreciatively. "It's just like the head of Gabcom to have such a big and impressive garden." She looked at the iron bars that would prevent potential thieves to enter. "And an iron fence too!"

"But where's the entrance? This place is so big I can't see it." Dekao grumbled, looking around. Apparently on the way to the house, Dekao had decided to actually visit Yaito instead of his previous plan. "Oh, Netto-kun. Over there!" He ran over to a hole in the fence. "We can get in through here!"

Netto hesitated. "Shouldn't we…you know, go through the front gate?" It's still daylight out too. Not a good time to be sneaking through a hole in the wall.

"It'll be fine." Dekao tried to assure her. "We're Yaito-chan's classmates, after all."

Which only served to worry Netto more. "Wouldn't that be more of a reason to enter properly?" Because this is a _rich person's place_ , and no one can sneak in a place like that without proper preparation. Otherwise bad things would happen. Because of stupid traps that rich people have. Ikazuchi squawked in agreement.

Clearly displeased with Netto's answer, Dekao scowled. "If you're too scared, then I'll just go by myself."

And he proceeded to climb through the hole and disappear into the garden before Netto could protest.

Netto gaped before deciding that cursing in several different languages was a good idea. "He's going to die in there!" She groaned. "If I had the right equipment I could get in easily!"

' _ **But you are not doing that right now.'**_

"But I'm not doing that right now!" Netto stopped, looked at the mechanical bird on her shoulder, and a plan began to form in her head. "Ikazuchi, can you get in and check on Dekao-kun?"

Ikazuchi cooed in a questioning tone.

"Yes, I'll reward you. Now go on, please." The bird took off, flying into the garden, and stopped to hover by a tree trunk. "Found something already?"

Forte connected to the camera in Ikazuchi's right eye and pulled up the live feed on-screen. Netto blinked, now looking through Forte's eyes as they watched Ikazuchi shift over until a section of the tree trunk had a slight glare to it.

' _That's a…!'_

' _ **Security camera.'**_ Forte confirmed, then sent Ikazuchi a command to find Dekao.

Ikazuchi's camera shifted, scanning the ground until it spotted a human with a heat signal that matched Dekao's. Resting in one of the trees, it took in the rest of its surroundings. Alarms began blaring throughout the garden.

' _Oh, great. We couldn't find Dekao-kun before he tripped the alarms.'_

' _ **Hold on, this is getting amusing.'**_ They watched as lawnmowers chased Dekao into a tennis court.

Netto pulled her laptop out of her backpack and opened it. _'Well, yeah it is. Keep me updated?'_

' _ **Of course.'**_

Netto nodded, connecting Rockman's PET to the laptop. "Rockman, can you connect to the video feed from Ikazuchi's left eye?"

' _ **He's in a cage now.'**_

"Sure, Netto-kun." Rockman agreed sleepily, pulling up a window that showed Dekao yelling while gripping the cage bars. Rockman stared at the feed, then turned to Netto with an expression of confusion. "What happened?"

Netto sat down cross-legged on the ground, setting the laptop on her lap. "Dekao-kun didn't listen to me when I said to go in the proper way, and now he's stuck in a cage in Yaito-chan's garden. Can you turn the microphone and speakers on for Ikazuchi?"

Rockman easily did it. "What are you going to do?"

Netto smiled. "First, I'm going to…Ikazuchi, can you hear me? Please look up if you can."

The camera focused onto the blue sky.

"Okay. Next, can you fly down to where Dekao-kun is?"

There was a soft thump as Ikazuchi landed on the grass, close enough that Dekao would be able to hear Netto through the speakers. "Dekao-kun, can you hear me?"

"Netto-kun?" Dekao looked around. "Where are you? I can't see you."

"I'm where you left me." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. "You should be able to see Ikazuchi, though."

"Oh, I see it!" Dekao lowered himself to Ikazuchi's eye level. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. Please help me get out!"

"There's only so much I can do with just Ikazuchi, you know." Netto sighed. "Maybe there's a plug-in port nearby that you can use to ask the security guards to let you go."

Dekao managed to find one and plugged Gutsman in. Soon, the ground opened up from under him and he fell through.

Netto rubbed her eyes, making sure that Dekao really did disappear from Ikazuchi's sight. "Where did he go?" Rockman shrugged, then looked up at something above Netto that wasn't there a moment ago.

"Netto-kun, above you!" Netto immediately moved over a few feet to the right, then looked at Dekao, who had fallen through a tube that had been above her.

She turned her attention back to her laptop. "Ikazuchi, you can come back now."

Ikazuchi responded with an excited squawk.

* * *

Netto hardly paid attention in class the next day as the teacher talked about security holes and firewalls.

' _This is boring.'_ She complained to Forte. _'I already know all this.'_

' _ **You know from experience. Others might not know about this.'**_

As soon as the bell rang, Netto left for home, Ikazuchi, yet again, perched on her shoulder. Such a smart self-learning A.I. program, figuring out how to sneak into her backpack while she wasn't paying attention. Netto stopped at a red light, and patiently waited for the light to turn blue.

"…It's been more than five minutes, what's going on?" Netto grumbled, looking at all the traffic lights in the area. To her surprise, all the lights were red. _'Rockman, can you find out what's wrong with the traffic lights?'_

' _Yeah, just plug me into that traffic light over there.'_ Netto did just that and watched Rockman as he traveled to the Traffic Control Center.

Rockman arrived at his destination in a burst of light. Looking around the area confirmed that the cause was a virus attack, he noticed a prone figure lying motionlessly on the data platform.

It didn't take long for him to realize who that was. "Glyde!" He knelt down to check the other navi's status. Glyde's hit points weren't too low yet, so that was a relief. "Glyde, hang in there."

"Rockman..." Glyde struggled to lift himself up. "…Watch out for the ball…"

"The ball?" Rockman asked, not noticing the shadow coming down on them.

"Above you!" Netto screamed. They barely dodged in time. "Hold on until I get there!"

"Right!" Disconnecting and stuffing the PET into its holster, Netto turned to Ikazuchi.

"Quick, the shortest route to the Traffic Control Center!" Ikazuchi chirped, spread its wings, and flew off. Netto followed close behind.

She was going down a small hill when she noticed Yaito standing on the roof of a car. "Ikazuchi, wait a minute!" Netto told the bird, then turned to Yaito. "Yaito-chan!"

Yaito looked over. "Netto-kun?"

Netto cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. "What are you doing over there? Are you alright?"

Yaito seemed to blush and her lips moved. Netto heard nothing. "What did you say? I can't read lips, you know!" Huh, now that's something else she could learn. "And Rockman and Glyde are in trouble at the Traffic Control Center!"

"Netto-kun!" Yaito called out, sounding like she was about to cry. She jumped across the car roofs and into Netto's arms. "I need the toilet!"

"…Oh." Netto turned to face away from the other girl. "Hurry up and get on my back, then."

Once Yaito was holding onto Netto, who wisely chose not to mention how heavy Yaito was, Ikazuchi continued on.

"Hurry up!" Yaito whined.

"I know, I know!" Netto tried to build up speed while not crashing into anything.

' _Netto-kun, Glyde said the nearest toilet is in the traffic control center!'_

' _So where I'm already going, then. Got it.'_

Arriving at the center, Ikazuchi had opened up the automatic doors. Netto skated on through, ignoring the guard that tried to stop them. She dropped Yaito off at the bathroom, receiving a hurried thank you, and bolted to the nearest plug-in port, where Ikazuchi was. She connected the PET, and upon seeing the attack heading for Rockman and Glyde, slotted in a Barrier chip. It activated just in time.

"Thank you, Netto-kun!" Rockman called out.

Netto grinned, another chip ready in her hand. "Sorry it took me this long."

Rockman shook his head, smiling. "No, it's alright."

"Okay then, let's go!" At Rockman's affirmative nod, she continued. "Battle chip, sword, slot in!"

Left arm forming into a pale blue blade, Rockman broke into a run. The opponent sent out several clones to try to stop him.

Netto couldn't help but gasp softly. "A navi with cloning abilities." She whispered in awe, and heard Forte chuckling in the back of her mind.

Rockman easily took care of the clones, and the enemy navi managed to plug out before Rockman could damage them.

"You did it, Rockman!" Netto praised, then flinched when she heard a thud. She looked in the direction of the noise, only seeing a woman who dropped her PET and was now clutching at her leg in pain.

'… _She looks kind of familiar?'_

' _ **Perhaps…'**_

"Netto-kun..." Netto turned. Yaito was walking towards her, looking down at her dress. "Thank you." She raised a hand up.

Netto smiled and took her hand. She paused. "You…washed your hands, right?"

Yaito's face became as red as a tomato. "Netto, you idiot!"

* * *

The next morning, Meiru knocked on the door of the Hikari household. A minute passed before the door was opened by Netto's mother.

Haruka looked surprised to see Meiru there. "Ah, you are…?"

"I'm Sakurai Meiru, Hikari-san." Meiru introduced herself. "I came to see Netto-kun. Is she here?"

"No, I'm afraid she had left just a few minutes ago." Haruka sighed, looking back into the house. "I'm worried about her, with those WWW incidents. Especially since she forgot to bring Rockman with her."

"What?" Meiru was stunned. Operators rarely go anywhere without their navi these days, and with the possibility of WWW causing trouble at any moment, being without a navi made humans defenseless against virus attacls. "Has she said anything about where she went?"

"She did mention the harbor…will you go give Rockman to her?" At Meiru's answering nod, Haruka disappeared inside the house, and returned a few moments later to hand Meiru Rockman's PET. "Take care now."

"I will. Thank you, Hikari-san." Unfolding her scooter, Meiru set off for the harbor.

The harbor wasn't terribly big, but it wasn't small either. Meiru wandered around, holding both Roll's and Rockman's PETs in her hands.

"Netto-kun was just doing homework," Rockman explained. "When she suddenly panicked and said that she was going to be late."

"Late for what?" Roll asked.

Rockman shrugged. "I don't know. She just grabbed Ikazuchi and took off without me."

"Maybe she was meeting someone in secret?" Meiru suggested, remembering scenarios like that in her romance novels. "Like some kind of forbidden love."

The two navis stared at her.

"Meiru-chan, these days, almost all relationships are acceptable." Roll pointed out. "Netto-kun wouldn't have had to hide it."

"And why would she bring Ikazuchi along with her?" Rockman added. "Not to mention that I've been with her almost ever since she came to Japan, and she's never shown that kind of interest to anyone."

Meiru lightly chewed on her lip in thought. "Maybe Ikazuchi has some sort of important data that Netto-kun needs to pass on to someone else? Like Net Police?"

"If it was the Net Police, Netto-kun would have brought me along."

"Maybe…" Roll's voice had a tint of mischief to it. "She's working for WWW."

They all laughed at the idea.

"As if!" Meiru giggled. "She already beat them three times!" She looked up. "Oh, there she is!"

Netto was scrolling down the street, Ikazuchi perched on her shoulder. They were both facing away from Meiru, so they didn't seem to notice her.

"Let's follow her." Meiru said. No one protested much.

They managed to stay on Netto's trail until she went inside a restroom. Meiru waited near it for Netto to come out. One minute became five, and five minutes became ten. There was still no sign of Netto.

"What's taking her so long?" Meiru grumbled.

"We should go see if anything's wrong." Roll suggested.

Meiru nodded, putting Rockman's PET into her holster and entering the restroom, bumping into a girl with a blue hat in the process. There was an open window on the far end of the room.

Meiru clicked her tongue. "How did Netto-kun know we were following her?"

* * *

Approximately twenty minutes ago, Netto had felt a chill at the back of her neck. Someone was following her. Ignoring Rockman's attempts to contact her, she took a right turn and snuck a peek at whoever was following her. She looked away after a second, unable to tell who it was. Forte had watched with her, however, and he has the ability to look at his memories like they were pictures or videos.

Soon, he showed her the memory as she sat down on a bench to rest. Netto glanced at each face, zeroing in on a familiar one.

' _Meiru-chan was the one following me?'_

' _ **She's holding two PETs.'**_ Forte pointed out. _**'If one belonged to her navi, the other one would be Rockman.'**_

It…made sense. Meiru probably followed her to try to give her Rockman's PET. _'Not yet. I still haven't transported the item yet.'_

' _ **There's a restroom not too far from here.'**_

'… _? Oh! Good idea!'_ Netto exclaimed when she remembered the contents of her backpack. She stood back up and walked casually towards said restroom, locking herself in a stall once she got there.

Unzipping her backpack, she dug around for her spare clothes. The long black pants went on first, over her shorts. Next she took off her vest and replaced it with a purple hooded jacket, zipping it all the way up. Then, she took out a plastic bag and wore the blonde wig that was within it. Stuffing the plastic bag back into her backpack, she pulled out a blue baseball cap.

Exiting the stall and opening the window, she urged Ikazuchi to leave and meet her at the meeting place. She then went over to the mirror, checking to see that her brown hair was tucked underneath the wig. Satisfied with the result, she set the hat on top of her head, then left, bumping into Meiru in the process.

Once she made it to the meeting place, next to a ship heading for Amerope, she waited around for Ikazuchi to show up. Which he did, after five minutes.

"Now, Ikazuchi." Netto said quietly. "Remember to hide yourself when you sneak on. Make sure there's sunlight so you don't run out of power. Once you get to Amerope, go to the coordinates I gave you. That's where your new owner is. Be nice, and don't get destroyed, okay?"

Ikazuchi chirped in agreement, then flew off to the ship. Netto smiled, walking off to the nearest restroom to change again. It's time to go find Meiru now.

* * *

Ikazuchi means thunder. Guess who it's going to meet?

Netto managed to pay for flights and hotels because she makes a living selling robots she builds. It's a good system for her, since she gets to test out ideas and keep on improving. She specializes in animal and insect-shaped robots, though humanoid robots are possible if she has the right materials.

It is common sense for Netto that big property belonging to rich people=lots of troublesome traps. How does she know? You'll find out later in the story. Maybe. Actually, you probably will.

There is a reason why the WWW navis/members look familiar to Netto. No, it's not because she might be in WWW. Saying this right now, Netto is not in WWW.

It is my headcanon (or is it canon? Not sure) that Meiru, and probably Yaito as well, loves romance novels. It explains their reaction to Saloma and Daisuke meeting in the Quickman episode, and Mariko-sensei staring off into the distance in the Sharkman vs Rockman episode.

Ikazuchi is a yellow bird model that can fly. Like all of Netto's other creations, it has a self-learning A.I. with little to none restrictions. However, it can usually only do what its owner tells it to do. It is a GPS, has cameras in both eyes, a speaker in its beak, and microphone in both ears. It can plug in with one of its talons, like the bug from the video game episode. There's a plug in port on its right side, which is usually covered by the wing.

Ikazuchi will make another appearance at some point.

I have no idea what the timeline of the anime is like so the N1 Grand Prix will be held during winter vacation so students can compete.


	7. Teacher

Ai Star: Great to know that!

Out of pure inspiration and procrastination on writing out this chapter, I wrote a new story. Escapades is basic PTT pre-story plot that happens in a Classic universe setting. Check it out if you want to. With that story, I'm taking requests for possible future chapters because that's an interesting thing to do. I've always wanted to try that.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Teacher

Netto couldn't help but panic as she sped down the street, trying to make it to school on time. _'I'm going to be late!'_

There was a huff of irritation from Forte. _**'You shouldn't have stayed up late reading about Dr. Regal's new theory about Full and Perfect Synchro.'**_

' _But it was super interesting!'_ She whined. _'No one managed a Perfect Synchro yet, and very few people could even reach Full Synchro! And yet Dr. Regal manages to gather enough Synchro data to prove the possibility of Perfect Synchro to be powerful enough to destroy a part of the Internet just from a regular attack! That's absolutely amazing!'_

She turned, skating past the school's open gate and paying no attention to her surroundings. _'And that was just-'_

' _ **Net, watch out!'**_ Forte warned just before she crashed into someone, the impact sending her to the ground. He sighed. _**'Pay attention when you're skating.'**_

' _Ow, sorry.'_ Netto rubbed at her face in pain, then looked down at the ground where a bunch of battle chips lay scattered about, and at the man who was crawling around picking them up. She picked up one that was closest to her and gazed at the image. _'Isn't this…'_

The chip was soon snatched away by the man she had bumped into. "Don't put your fingerprints on it!" He snapped, and carefully examined the chip with a magnifying glass. "I hope it's not scratched…"

' _ **Don't you have somewhere to be?'**_

Netto blinked. _'What?'_

The bell rang. She paled.

"Oh, shoot!"

* * *

Thankfully, Mariko-sensei let her off fairly easily since it was her first time being late. Netto slumped in her seat, wondering why an adult who carried battle chips like Super Vulcan around would be doing at a high school.

"Today we have a special teacher from Rensan University." Mariko-sensei announced. "I'm supposed to introduce him to you all, but…" She sighed and glanced at her watch. "He's late."

At that moment the classroom door slid open and in came the man Netto had bumped into.

Oh, that's why.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He apologized, scratching at the back of his head. "I'm Higure."

Mariko-sensei then continued. "Higure-sensei will be teaching us about virus busting."

"That's right." He said as an image appeared on the whiteboard. "Eh…computer viruses can be deadly enemies." He tapped at the image. "This is the security system that protects Akihara High School. Not that it's very effective or anything."

Forte perked up. _**'How did he know the security system isn't effective?'**_

Netto paused in her doodling of the system, watching Higure rave about powerful and rare chips. _'…Is it?'_

Forte sounded like he was about to laugh. _**'Of course not. It's a**_ **security system** _ **. What would you expect?'**_

' _True.'_ Netto looked at the finished drawing, and lightly bit her lip in thought. _'If these three lines are supposed to be barriers…'_ She tapped her pencil on the lines that circled around the 'system'. _'…What would be the easiest and fastest way to get to the system?'_

There was an unspoken question that Netto said yes to. Her free hand, the left one, reached over to grab the spare pencil. Twirling it around, Forte then drew an arrow that went straight through the 'barriers', pointing at the center. _**'A concentrated attack would do it. It shouldn't be too wide, though.'**_

Netto used her right hand to write 'needle?' next to the arrow. _'Like that?'_

Forte hummed in affirmation. _**'If I gather energy into my finger instead of my palm, it will do. But if the shot's angled…'**_ He drew another arrow, this one pointing at the 'barrier' at an angle, then drew an x over it.

' _I'll keep that in mind.'_ She folded up the paper, stuck it in her pocket, and started paying attention to the lesson again.

* * *

"Yaito-chan, is this what you wanted to show us?" Netto asked, looking up at the giant wooden house situated on a tree. How did they do that without looking like it's going to fall?

"This huge bird house?" Dekao added.

"How rude." Yaito placed her hands on her hips. "It's a secret base that Papa built for me."

Netto, Dekao, and Meiru turned to her and asked in unison. "Secret base?"

Yaito smirked.

Inside the secret base, Netto could see one side that was a mixture of a kitchen and a dining room, and the other side seemed to be like a living room. It was, Forte had to agree, already pretty impressive. Perks of having a rich family.

"So this is supposed to transform into a secret base?" Dekao asked. Yaito smirked again and pressed a button.

The walls of the base flipped to show off the fancy machinery, and Netto gasped in delight at the 3D monitor that popped up.

"What do you think? It's the latest 3D monitor on the market!" Yaito said smugly. "Of course, you can have net battles on it as well!"

"So cool…" Netto whispered, and took out Rockman's PET. Meiru and Dekao did the same.

"Plug-in, Gutsman, transmission!"

"Plug-in, Roll, transmission!"

"Plug-in, Rockman, transmission!"

The three navis appeared in bursts of light, and Netto couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Rockman on the monitor was different from seeing him in the PET. "It looks so realistic!"

There was another burst of light that faded to show Glyde. "Greetings, I'll be your opponent." Netto frowned, confused. Wasn't Glyde…?

"But you're not a fighting-class navi." Rockman pointed out.

Glyde held up a finger, smiling. "I have Yaito-sama's battle chips, so it's no problem."

Meiru hummed. "He's quite confident." Netto nodded, glancing at Yaito. Just what kind of battle chips does she have?

"Gutsman will go first!" Dekao stepped forward. "Knock out that ridiculous navi!" Gutsman grunted in agreement and blasted at Glyde.

…Who looked completely calm? "Activate battle chip!" On cue, a purple aura appeared around him and kept him from suffering damage.

Dekao gasped. "No way!"

"That aura and defensive power…" Netto muttered to herself, then brightened in recognition. "That's the Dream Aura!"

"Bingo!" Yaito held up a chip. "Now for the next one, slot-in!" Glyde's arm transformed into a sword with a stone embedded in the upper half.

Netto recognized it instantly. "Paladin Sword!?" She gasped as Glyde toppled Gutsman over with an attack.

"Hey, Yaito!" Dekao yelled. "Using rare chips is cheating!"

' _Is it really?'_

' _ **No, of course not.'**_

Yaito grinned. "Physical fighting and strategic fighting are the same thing."

"Paladin Sword and Dream Aura, huh?" Netto murmured.

' _ **Just from that display, have you determined how to defeat him?'**_

' _Hmm…with the way Glyde's using the sword, it's obvious he's not a fighting-class navi. That would make it easier to predict his movements and dodge them. Dream Aura doesn't have any weaknesses, but it can wear away if you keep on attacking.'_

' _ **And?'**_

'… _And? …Oh! I can't be sure that those are her only chips, so I have to watch out in case there's more surprises.'_

The wave of pride that surged through the link afterwards was more than enough to make Netto smile. "Rockman, it's our turn!"

"Right!" Then he froze and spun around. There was a feeling that transmitted through their link. One that Netto had the day Ikazuchi left.

"Rockman, what's wrong?"

"I just…" The navi hesitated. "I got the feeling that we're being watched."

Yep, that's the feeling. "Watched by what?" She wondered.

"Don't worry." Yaito said. "The top security programs are being used in this system. There's no way an outsider can penetrate it!"

' _Ah…'_ Netto mused. _'That must mean that an outsider managed to infiltrate it.'_

' _ **It seems likely.'**_ Forte sighed. _**'I doubt they'll be found until they make a move.'**_

"Hey, Netto-kun." She blinked and looked up at Rockman, who was the one speaking. "It's our turn, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Netto dug around in her pocket for the chip she wanted. "Let's start things off with a Shotgun!"

She remained alert for the rest of the time in the secret base, but there were no more signs of the possible intruder.

* * *

Rockman sighed. "Why do you always do this?"

It was the day after they visited the secret base, and Netto was lost in the school. Again.

She laughed sheepishly. "At least I left the data for the school newspaper with Meiru-chan, so I won't get in trouble for being late?"

He groaned. "It's been over two weeks, why are you still getting lost?"

" _Anyways_." Netto said loudly, avoiding the question. "The classroom's this way, right?" She pointed down a hallway. Which, to her, was identical to every other hallway in the school.

Rockman nodded. Netto looked up at the classroom signs until she reached the classroom where Meiru-chan and the others _should_ be at. The door was closed. She tugged on the handle, trying to get it to open. It wouldn't budge.

Netto frowned. "The classroom isn't supposed to be locked, right?" She peeked in through the window. There seemed to be no open exits, and her attention was drawn to the unfamiliar navi on the board. Unfortunately, even when she pressed her ear against the door, she couldn't hear anything clearly.

Stepping back and sighing, Netto held up Rockman's PET. "Can you check to see what's going on in the classroom?"

"Got it!"

"Plug in, Rockman, transmission!" Rockman appeared in front of the strange navi.

"You're that…" The navi trailed off. Netto narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She was pretty sure she had never seen that navi before…

' _ **Must have been the one that Rockman noticed yesterday.'**_

' _Seems like it.'_

"Rockman!" Glyde called out from where he was. "Watch out for the dice bombs!"

A giant dice rolled to a stop at Rockman's feet. It showed a one and exploded, but Rockman leapt backwards and avoided the blast. "Dice bombs?"

"Right." Glyde confirmed. "The higher the number, the more blasts there are!"

There was a whirling sound, and a purple wall appeared, separating them.

Rockman pushed at it with no success, and two more walls appeared. "What's this barrier?"

"I made this barrier using the school's security systems." The navi said. "It's a polyvirus barrier, impossible to break using your power."

Rockman brought out his Rockbuster and fired at the barrier, just to try to prove the navi wrong. The barrier, however, remained undamaged.

"This is a one on one battle. I won't let you interfere."

Roll showed up. "What do you mean one on one? You trapped everyone inside and started a gambling battle."

Rockman turned to her. "Gambling battle?"

"Somebody used Numberman to override the school systems." She explained. "He wants Yaito-chan's rare chips."

"Oh." Netto blinked. "So it must have been Numberman who was watching us the other day. And his operator…rare chips…school's security systems…oh!" She gasped. "It must be Higure Yamitaro!"

Numberman's reaction proved it. A small screen popped up on the lower left corner of the screen, showing Higure. "So you've figured me out…"

"Higure-sensei!" Netto could hear Mariko-sensei call out. "Why are you doing something so foolish?!"

"What's so foolish about trying to get my hands on rare battle chips?" He snapped. "Numberman, use your dice bombs!"

Yaito must have slotted in Dream Aura, since Glyde was now covered with the signature purple aura. The dice landed on a one and exploded.

"It looks like the dice aren't up to par today." Higure sighed. "Numberman, keep using your dice bombs!"

"Even with the Dream Aura, he can't defend himself against those blasts!" Right, Dekao and the others were watching this from inside the classroom.

"Mariko-sensei…" The voice belonged to Meiru. "If that wall was made using the school systems, then there has to be a password to disable it, right?"

"Right."

"Then hurry sensei." Yaito yelled. "Enter the password!"

"Sorry, but I forgot it." There were three simultaneous groans.

Rockman spoke up. "But there might be a hint as to what the password is."

Roll stepped forward. "I'll search the system for any hints." She walked up to the barrier and connected her antennae to it.

A swarm of Chikurito viruses appeared and charged at Roll, only to be deleted by Rockman. "I'll take care of the viruses. Hurry up and find that hint!"

"Leave it to me!" A few moments later, Roll smiled. "Got it! The first password hint is H-A-T-O."

There was some muttering about what the password hint meant until Mariko-sensei realized that it was the number of pigeons looked after on campus. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember the number. So Netto had to head over there to count.

' _ **Netto, wait.'**_

She slowly stopped, about to leave the building. _'What's wrong?'_

An image briefly flashed across her eyes. It was the paper of the system that she had drawn.

' _You want to destroy the barriers?'_

' _ **We still have that Invisible chip.'**_

' _Oh, right.'_ Netto looked around, in case there was someone around. She was alone. Approaching a nearby plug-in port, she dug around in her backpack and took out Forte's PET and a purple battle chip case. She picked out the Invisible chip and put the chip case back inside the backpack.

"Plug-in, Forte, transmission!" He appeared not too far from where the barrier was. Rockman and the others were too preoccupied to notice him. Good. "Battle chip, Invisible, slot-in!" Forte disappeared, except for a slight distortion where his body should be. Netto placed his PET into the backpack and zipped it up. "I'm going to go count the pigeons now!" And she left.

Forte floated over to the barrier, placing his hand flat on it. It was well made, for a replica. Soon, Netto announced the number of pigeons and the outer wall slid away. Two left. _**'You should go check on Rockman.'**_

"…What? Go check on Rockman?" Forte sighed.

He could see Rockman looking up in alarm. "Netto-kun, is someone there with you?"

Listening to Netto splutter, he moved over to Roll and placed one hand on her shoulder, the other hand gathering energy for a Darkness Overload.

She turned around, disconnecting from the barrier. "Rockman?" Roll asked in confusion. But he wasn't close enough, still blasting away at the viruses. So who…?

Forte pulled her away from the barrier, grimacing at her shriek of surprise, and raised his other hand up. Focusing the energy to his index finger, he fired, watching in satisfaction as the beam pierced through the two layers and to the other side of the barriers. The barriers crumbled, falling to pieces and disappearing. There was a moment of silence. Forte took this time to teleport away to the Uranet. He needed some practice with that.

Rockman spotted the telltale light of teleportation and dashed towards it, wanting to find out who the navi that destroyed the barriers was. "Wait!" The light faded and he grasped nothing but stray data.

"Rockman!" The lights on his helmet glowed. "We need to help Glyde first! Battle chip, Wide Sword, slot-in!" His Rockbuster shifted into the sword and he rushed at Numberman.

Numberman panicked, throwing a bomb at Rockman. It was sliced in half. "Please forgive me!" He screamed, dropping into a bow.

"Unlock the classroom doors!" Rockman ordered. Numberman hastily agreed and the door slid open just as Netto reached it. She grinned, hearing the cheers from within the classroom.

* * *

"What a day." Netto commented. She and the others were outside the school entrance, watching Yaito's limo drive away.

"Did something happen?" Saloma asked, walking up to them.

"Ah, Saloma-san, hello!" Meiru greeted, then started to explain. "We got locked in a classroom because the special teacher, Higure-sensei, wanted Yaito-chan's rare chips!"

"And then," Netto added. "Since I was the only one not in the classroom, I had to go and find the passwords to disable the barriers that he set up."

"Netto-kun only found one password before an invisible navi showed up and destroyed the rest of the barriers." Dekao finished. "Taking down Numberman was easy after that."

"An invisible navi?" Saloma frowned.

Meiru nodded. "Higure-sensei thought that the navi was using an Invisible chip. It's rare, and makes most attacks ineffective, but not many people like to use it because they can't keep track of where their navi is."

"Oh, yeah." Dekao turned to Netto. "Were you with someone when you told Roll the first password?"

"Huh?" Netto blinked. "O-oh, yeah, kind of."

"What was that person like? Were they the invisible navi's operator?"

"Um, they were kind of standing in the shadows, so I couldn't see them all that well." Netto lied, glancing over to the left. "I think they might have been the navi's operator though, since they told me to meet up with Rockman."

"I see. I'm glad that you are all safe, though." Saloma smiled.

"Yeah, I am too." Netto stuck her hands into her pockets, and noticed that something was missing. "Hey, my notes from yesterday are gone."

Meiru gasped. "What were they about?"

She shrugged. "Nothing that important. Just some stuff on the polyvirus system."

"You'll be fine." Dekao dismissed. "Anyways, you guys want to go to Game Soul to play the arcade games?"

The two girls agreed, and raced off together after saying goodbye to Saloma. They didn't notice Saloma taking a slightly dirty piece of paper from her pocket, unfold it, and look at the polyvirus system drawn on it.

* * *

Science fact: If you're standing on the material that a car window's commonly made of and try to break it with a pickaxe, it's not going to break. However, if you're standing on it and you dropped a diamond cutter with the point down, it's going to break the material. This is because the tip of the pickaxe is not as pointy as the diamond cutter tip, and so the force is more distributed for the pickaxe. Watched this in a Chinese science show, it was amazing.

A common way to tell if someone's lying is to look at their eyes. If they're looking to their left, they are most likely lying. If they're looking to their right, they're likely telling the truth.

The Invisible battle chip is an actual thing, I looked it up because the 'Forte blasting the barriers to pieces' part was going to be a thing if it was possible. Because Forte deserves some in-story action by now.


	8. Training

Ai Star: Not quite yet, but Netto's on their 'Suspicious' list.

XxBlueacidxX: Nice to hear your input!

Security systems, I believe, are meant to protect against viruses. If a navi attacks it…well, the WWW incidents show enough proof. Either that, or generic security navis really suck at their job.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Training

Netto hummed to herself as she watched Rockman fight against Gutsman. Well, it was more dodging than fighting. "Left!" She called out, and Rockman moved in that direction. Gutsman missed. Again.

Dekao cursed. "No matter how he punches, he can't get a hit!"

Netto grinned. "Just using brute force won't get you a victory!" She glanced over at Meiru and Yaito. They nodded at her with completely serious faces. She looked back at the monitor, waiting for the perfect timing to get it right.

Now! "Rockman, twirl to your right!" Rockman spun, barely avoiding the next attack. A blush rose on his face as he realized what Netto told him to do. "Battle chip, Mini Bomb, slot in!" A small blue and green ball appeared in Rockman's hand, and he instinctively threw it at Gutsman. It hit his groin and exploded, causing Gutsman to run in circles from the pain.

"Oh no! Gutsman!" Dekao wailed.

"Yes! I did it!" Netto cheered. "I got Rockman to twirl!" She high fived Meiru and Yaito. "I told you I could do it!" Forte's amusement flowed through their link, and Netto's grin grew wider.

"Yeah, you did!" Meiru smiled. "And you have 23 wins too!"

Yaito huffed. "Took you long enough. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't be able to do it."

"Netto-kun." Rockman groaned. "That was embarrassing." There were still hints of pink on his cheeks.

Netto was about to tease him when a high pitched alarm startled her. "What's that?" She gasped.

"It's the security alarm! Someone's trying to break in!" Yaito exclaimed, looking at the footage of all the security cameras in the Gabcom property. Only, there was no sign of the intruder anywhere. "Where could they be?"

As if in answer, the door to Yaito's secret base slammed open and there was a shout of "Hey, you!" Then a yelp of pain as something crashed. The four teenagers looked over in surprise as the lights turned on. Netto blinked, eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness, noticing first the fish seller Masa clutching at his head in pain, then the washtub that was on the floor.

' _ **A washtub? Really?'**_

' _It's a classic, I guess.'_

"You brats!" Masa snapped. "What were those traps for?!"

Meiru and Dekao gasped in recognition. "Masa-san!"

Masa made a noise. "The dashing, high spirited fisherman from Akihara, at your service!" He struck a pose.

'… _Sumo?'_

'… _ **Kabuki?'**_

'… _ **W**_ _h_ _ **a**_ _t_ _ **e**_ _v_ _ **e**_ _r_ _ **.'**_ The two decided, and that was the end of it.

Yaito stomped over to the fisherman, glaring. "You don't need to make a bit fuss like that. Anyway, who do you think you are? It's rude to just barge into someone's house as you please."

"Stop being so unreasonable!" Masa yelled. Looking over to Netto, Meiru, and Dekao, he continued. "I was worried about you and this is the thanks I get! Hey, Dekao!"

Even though he was addressing Dekao, his tone caused Meiru and Netto to cringe as well. "I don't get you and your net battles, but you're a kid, and kids shouldn't be lying around inside! Go and play outside happily!"

' _I'm still a kid?'_

' _ **You're certainly not twenty years old, which is this country's age of majority.'**_

' _What does that make you?'_

' _ **Human standards do not apply to navis.'**_

"I don't think so!" Masa said in response to whatever had been said while Netto wasn't paying attention, and pointed at his fish apron. "As long as I wear this apron, I'll have you running around Akihara!" He crossed his arms and started mumbling to himself.

' _ **How did someone like that get past the Gabcom security system and managed to avoid the cameras?'**_

' _That's…a good question.'_

"It's time for training!" Masa pointed at them.

Netto blinked. "Training?"

"He said training…" Rockman commented from the monitor.

"I suddenly feel dizzy." Roll added, followed by agreements from Gutsman and Glyde.

'… _I'm going to have to do this, aren't I.'_

' _ **It could help with our synchronization for Full Synchro.'**_

' _I can't wait!'_

* * *

And that was how Netto ended up jogging quietly behind Yaito.

' _Hey, how far away is Grandpa's home from here?'_

She split her attention, half on the ground in front of her and the other half at the map that Forte's looking at. _**'It's in this country, actually. I wonder why we did not get here sooner.'**_

Netto grumbled, speeding up a bit to catch up to the others. They both knew that she had planned to go to Kingland first, but ended up in Creamland due to getting on the wrong plane. Her right arm brushed against a bush and she jerked it away, moving over to the left a bit. Looking with two different visions was fine and all, but doing it while moving can be annoying when she has the depth perception of only one eye.

' _What's the fastest way to get there?'_ Within seconds, a red line started glowing on the map.

' _ **The bullet train would take us to the closest city, and you'll have to hike a bit. At most, it should take two days.'**_

Netto hummed in understanding, looking in front of her with both eyes and attention…and had to stop immediately to keep herself from running into Yaito.

* * *

"Where did Masa-san get these?" Netto asked, gesturing at the gym clothes the four teenagers were now wearing.

Meiru opened her mouth to respond, but Masa answered first. "We'll start with one hundred push-ups!"

Netto only managed thirty before she had to take a break.

* * *

"Next, tree climbing!"

That one was a bit easier, since Grandpa's home was surrounded by trees. Sometimes she would climb one, or swim in the nearby lake if she needed to take a break.

Still, tree climbing was more difficult when there were three other people on the same tree as you.

* * *

Netto held her breath, looking up at the surface of the water. She loved doing it. It was relaxing, she could hardly hear anything, and the water made the light look like it was dancing.

' _ **Net.'**_

Oh, right. Training. Reluctantly, she swam to the other side of the pool and popped her head out of the water. She received a lecture from Masa in the process.

* * *

"Not finished yet! Now it's the five thousand balls from Hell!" Masa announced as he repeatedly hit baseballs at the group.

Netto was busy dodging, battle instincts taking over as she tried to avoid getting hit on the chest and head. Some of the baseballs smacked her arms and legs, and she could tell that they were probably going to bruise.

"Give it a rest already!" Yaito screamed. "I'll tell Papa, and he'll kick you out of town! Papa's made out of money, you know!"

' _That's…going a little overboard.'_

"Try me, if you can!" Masa shot back. "I'll put a firefly so far up your dad's nostrils that his eyeballs will start flashing!" He threw up another baseball, then swung his bat. Yaito shrieked at the ball, crouching down to avoid it. The baseball hit Dekao instead.

' _ **And that?'**_

' _Also kind of extreme.'_ She recalled the various insults Grandpa had, some that she had picked up as well. _'…I think?'_

' _ **Hmm…'**_

* * *

' _ **Netto.'**_

'… _Eeehhh…'_ The soft grass lightly brushed against Netto's cheek. She relaxed. Her eyelids felt heavy. She ignored the background noise.

' _ **Wake up. You need to eat something. It's three in the afternoon and you only had breakfast.'**_

'… _Mmnnn…'_ But training was _hard_. She wanted to sleep. She could eat later.

' _ **You can eat first, then sleep.'**_

'… _Nnnnooooo…'_ If Forte wanted her to eat something, then he should do it himself. She wants sleep.

' _ **Wha-'**_

' _I give you permission. Now let me sleep.'_ She had one last thing to say before her consciousness entered dreamland.

' _Have fun.'_

* * *

Meiru shook Netto's shoulder gently. "Netto-kun, wake up and have some rice crackers." It wasn't something she would eat normally, but it was the only thing to eat and Meiru didn't really have the energy to get something else right now. Plus, she left her money at home.

Slowly, Netto sat up. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and then turned to stare at Meiru. She held out a cracker.

Netto glanced down to the rice cracker being offered to her, up to Meiru's face, then down at the cracker again. "Thank you." She mumbled quietly, then took it.

Meiru smiled. "You're welcome." She reached over to the bag of brown fish-flavored rice crackers and took another one. Netto was staring at her again, watching as Meiru used her teeth to break off a piece and chewed on it.

Netto looked down at the cracker she held, raised it up to her mouth and copied the motion. She had a look of concentration on her face as she ate. Meiru raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on Netto's strange behavior. It could be because she was just woken up. Instead, Meiru turned her attention back to Masa, who was using the break time to teach them about fish.

* * *

Forte thoughtlessly finished off the rice cracker, eyes drifting to each of Netto's classmates, and then to the fisherman, Masa. He could sense Netto's consciousness, in that slightly faded way that informed him that she was asleep.

He almost gave a huff of irritation. It was one of Netto's more troublesome habits that developed when they were still living with the old man. Whenever she was really tired, she would curl up on the nearest safe surface and sleep. When she woke up, she would immediately get back to work on whatever she was going at the time.

And now, he's going to have to temporarily take Netto's place until she woke up again, thanks to her granting permission for him to do so. Their link could be so useful at times.

He snatched a robot fish out of the air and stared at it, wondering where the off switch would be. Robotics wasn't really something he had much knowledge about, even though he was with Netto when she learned the subject. He was more used to programming personalities and objectives. What would Netto say in this situation…?

"How is this fish swimming in the air?" He decided to ask, attracting the others' attention. He released the robot fish, watching as it swam around in confusion, then grabbed it again. Netto might want to play around with it later. "It's supposed to move around in water. It shouldn't be able to do the same in air."

Another robot fish floated by him to prove him wrong, and he took that one too. He frowned in confusion. Where did these come from? He looked up, taking in his surroundings.

Oh.

All kinds of robot fish were swimming around in the area. There was a school of fish near a large tree, what was probably a stingray wiggling around on the grass, and crabs scuttling across the road. Forte only sighed.

"Netto-kun, I wonder what's going on." Meiru commented in worry. Forte remained silent. "Netto-kun?"

Oh, right. Netto's classmate was addressing him. Technically, she was addressing Netto, but since Netto wasn't able to answer he would have to do it.

"With this amount of robot fish running loose," He gestured at the fish. "They probably came from the Robotics Aquarium. And since WWW really likes to cause trouble here, it's probably their fault." He stood up. "I guess I'll go to the aquarium and stop them, since the Net Police don't seem to be doing anything."

"Netto-kun." Meiru stood up as well, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you feeling alright? You're not acting like yourself."

Forte just stared at her. "I'm just tired, that's all." He replied. "The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can sleep." He stepped away and headed to where the aquarium should be, if he remembered correctly.

' _You're not acting like me at all!'_ Netto's voice suddenly popped up rather loudly. Forte hardly flinched.

' _ **If you're awake, then you can take your body back.'**_ He stopped moving, a glassy look in his eyes.

' _I only woke up because Rockman kept calling for me!'_ She seemed to pout. _'I can't sleep like that! Besides, I think I'll collapse if I get back this fast. All that energy used up during training and the strain of switching around two souls in one body, you know?'_

"Watch out!" Before Forte can react, Masa dashed in front of him and cut down a robot tuna with his knife. The fish fell to the ground in pieces, sparking with electricity.

' _Don't forget to thank him!'_ Netto chirped. Forte mentally rolled his eyes, but obliged.

"Keep your eyes open!" Masa replied. "These tuna weigh 350 kilos. Get hit by one and you're done for." He looked at the robot fish and growled. "I won't forgive those who would abuse fish even if they're robots. I'll never forgive them!"

' _Wow,'_ Netto gasped. _'He's so passionate when it comes to fish.'_

' _ **More importantly, how was he able to cut up a fish made of metal with only that knife of his?'**_ Forte wondered. _**'Are humans usually able to do that?'**_

' _I don't know. Maybe it's because of his job?'_ Netto paused, as if she was listening to something else. _'Ah, Rockman wants you to take out his PET, so the others can hear what he wants to say.'_

Forte took Rockman's PET out of its holster and held it up. The blue navi looked back at him. "I'll look into it with Glyde, so plug me in to the net terminal." Forte looked around, spotting a phone booth close by.

' _ **Like that one?'**_

' _Yeah, that works.'_ Yaito following behind him, Forte reached the phone booth and pulled out the PET plug.

"Netto-kun?"

Forte glanced down at Rockman. "What is it?"

"You…" Rockman hesitated. "You…are Netto-kun, right?"

Forte raised an eyebrow, and tried not to let a smirk show up on his face. "Who else would I be?" Before Rockman could answer, he connected the PET to the phone booth. "Plug-in, Rockman, transmission!" Yaito followed soon after, plugging Glyde in.

' _I told Rockman where he and Glyde should go.'_ Netto announced. _'We should meet them at the aquarium.'_

' _ **I see.'**_ Forte started walking again, slowly getting closer to the aquarium like he was doing earlier.

Netto started to giggle. _'I bet Rockman thinks you're a split personality of mine or something.'_

' _ **Is that so?'**_

' _Yeah! You really suck at acting like me, you know.'_

' _ **And whose fault is it that I had to do that in the first place?'**_ Quiet grumbling. _**'That's what I thought.'**_ He added smugly. _**'One point for me.'**_

* * *

Netto lounged around the best she could from where she was in Forte's PET. Now that she had switched bodies with Forte, she was beginning to wonder how he had stayed sane while being stuck in his PET most of the time. No wonder he liked to travel to the Uranet so much.

She rolled over onto her stomach and sighed. So boooring. She tugged Forte's cape closer to her, so that it acted like a blanket. And…oh, the feeling of panic from both Forte and Rockman, strangely. She didn't get that feeling from Forte very often.

' _What's going on?'_ She asked Rockman, since she was sure Forte can get himself out of whatever mess he got into. Conveniently forgetting that Forte didn't have the same capabilities that he would have if he was in his own body.

' _Viruses!'_ Came Rockman's hurried reply, followed by grunts of pain. _'There's dozens of them!'_

' _Don't worry, we'll try to get there as soon as we can.'_ Netto promised, then turned her attention to Forte. _'Rockman's in trouble. We need to hurry to the aquarium.'_

' _ **Sure, I'll definitely make some time to get that done.'**_ Forte said sarcastically. And did he sound slightly out of breath?

Netto blinked, finally noticing how fast Forte was running.

"What are you going to do, Netto-kun?" Yaito panted from somewhere behind them. Forte turned his head to glare at the blonde girl, allowing Netto to get a better view of their surroundings.

"What am I going to do?" Forte growled out. "What do you think I can do when we are being chased by a shark?!"

' _A shark?!'_ Netto cried out. _'What did I miss!?'_

' _ **Oh, not much. Nearly got stabbed by a narwhal, there was a giant octopus somewhere, and a shark managed to find…three…no, five prey to hunt down. I'm not sure how a robot shark will be able to digest human flesh, but I'm sure you might be able to find a way.'**_

' _Your sense of humor sucks.'_

' _ **So does yours.'**_ He retorted without missing a beat. In the background, Dekao was screaming about how all of them were done for.

"In times like this you just have to stand your ground and see what happens!" Masa shouted.

' _ **What does that mean?'**_

' _Stop and don't move?'_ Forte froze, still as a statue as the others did the same.

"Don't move and don't make a noise." Masa whispered in a low voice. The robot shark swam past them, turning and disappearing behind a building. A few seconds later, the group relaxed. Forte checked himself over for injuries while Masa explained that a shark would attack if it smelled blood, heard a loud noise, or saw a sudden movement. Hardly listening to the conversation, Netto briefly checked on Rockman's status again.

' _Hit points are getting low.'_ She commented. _'Rockman's, I mean. We need to hurry and get him a battle chip.'_

' _ **Hey, Netto?'**_

' _Hmm?'_

' _ **How…'**_ Forte began before flinching slightly in surprise at Masa's loud and obnoxious laugh. What was it that Masa said would be a reason for a shark attacking?

Netto screamed as the shark showed itself again, attracted by _the loud noise produced by Masa_. Forte just grimaced. Netto was starting to give him a headache with all that screaming. _'Forte, run!'_

' _ **What if I just don't move?'**_

' _What if you what?'_ Forte held still, and the shark moved around him and away. _'…Oh.'_

' _ **The fisherman said that sharks only attack things that are loud or move, after all.'**_ He waited a few more seconds, then looked behind him. The shark was gone. But… _**'Where did your classmates go?'**_

Silence.

"Oh," Forte spoke out loud, now that no one was around to hear him. "Do you think that they ran from the shark?"

'… _Maybe…'_ Worry flashed through their link. Netto started to pace. _'Let's keep going. If we get rid of the virus in the aquarium system, all of the robot fish will stop, right? We can't do anything about the shark right now, since we don't know where it went, so that's the fastest way to do it.'_

Forte nodded and started running, getting to the aquarium entrance in a few minutes. _**'…So what do we do about that squid?'**_

Netto paused in her mindless exercising, having felt slightly stiff for some reason. She took a look and winced. _'That's giant.'_

' _ **What should I do?'**_

' _From this distance, I can't tell where the emergency switch is. It's probably on the underside of the squid, though.'_ She eyed the gap between the limbs. _'I don't think we'll be able to get through just by running. We might have to use that.'_

' _ **You still have that in your backpack, don't you?'**_ Forte rummaged through the contents of her backpack. Schoolwork, textbooks, random pieces of wrapped up metal…ah, here it is. He pulled out the custom made ray gun, given to Netto by her foster grandpa. There was no one else around to see it, anyways.

' _Of course! I carry it everywhere with me, after all!'_ Netto sounded oddly proud of that, even though Forte usually ended up being the one who had to go out of his way to make sure that it wasn't detected at security checkpoints. _'Still fully charged, since I don't use it very often. Level five should do it.'_ Forte moved the dial to the number, then flipped the safety switch off. Taking aim at the squid, he pulled the trigger. A beam of electricity shot out and struck his target, electrocuting it. He watched the squid carefully as smoke rose up off of it. It didn't move. Safety switch on, voltage level at one, and the ray gun returned to its position at the bottom of Netto's backpack.

' _Its circuits probably fried.'_ Netto sighed regretfully. _'Maybe later we can see if there's anything still able to be scavenged.'_

Forte rolled his eyes as he jogged through the open entrance and worked his way to the control room, feet splashing on the thin layer of water that covered the floor. _**'Yeah, yeah. We'll go look at the free stuff later. I already got two small fish.'**_

' _You did!?'_ Netto squealed happily. _'You're the best!'_

He smirked. _**'Of course.'**_ Oh, here's the control room. He tugged open the door and stumbled in, plugging in Rockman's PET at the panel.

' _Sorry to keep you waiting, Rockman!'_ Netto chirped. They glanced down at the screen to see how the navi was doing.

Forte started laughing.

"Netto-kun, now's not the time!" Rockman yelled, struggling to free himself from the giant Jelly's tentacles.

' _Sorry!'_ Netto turned her attention to the still-laughing Forte. _'Stop that!'_ Forte only laughed harder. _'At least slot in some battle chips!'_

' _ **Fine, fine!'**_ Forte, now only grinning, looked through the chips Netto had available. Something that would help Rockman's situation… "Battle chip, sword, slot in!"

Rockman twisted, swinging his sword, and managed to free himself. He lunged forward, slashing into the Jellly's body. A water-like liquid came spurting out.

' _What the…'_ Netto was stunned. _'What was that!?'_

Forte frowned. Viruses burst into data when they were defeated, so they clearly weren't done with the battle. But what was with that liquid?

They watched as the cut that Rockman delivered to the Jelly slowly disappeared, and returned to looking whole and complete again. "Regenerative abilities? Does it have to do with the size of that virus?"

' _There were a bunch of regular-sized Jellies earlier, but Rockman said that they joined together and formed that.'_ Netto explained. _'If it has no limit for regeneration, then the sword won't be effective.'_

' _ **We need an electric-type battle chip, then.'**_

Netto gave a noise of confirmation, then gasped as a thought came to her. _'I haven't bought any electric-type chips yet! I don't have any!'_

' _ **And with us like this, neither of us can help.'**_ After all, just like how Forte can't utilize Netto's roller-skating skill or her welding precision, she can't bring out any of Forte's attacks. Really, the body-switching aspect of their link was only in case of an emergency.

Heavy guilt flooded from Netto, having picked up on Forte's thoughts, and he had to stabilize himself using the control panel to keep himself from collapsing from the strength of Netto's feelings. "There are still battle chips I can use." He muttered. "I can give Rockman a Shotgun to distract the Jelly, and use an Area Steal to get the other navi away. If it works out, both of the navis will be safe, but we'll have to leave the deletion of the Jelly to someone else."

' _But that would mean that the robot fish would still be functioning!'_ Netto protested. She, however, knew that it was currently the best option they had at this point.

Something whizzed past Forte, who snapped his head around to the open door of the control room. "Who's there!?" He snarled, looking into the hallway.

There was no one there.

Forte glared at the wall. "Missed them, whoever they are."

' _I wonder what they threw at us…'_ Turning back around, Forte's eyes landed on a metal fish skeleton with a battle chip hanging from the string.

"This is the Elec Sword battle chip." He noted, taking hold of the chip and slipping the fish skeleton into his pocket. "How did they know we needed one?"

' _Does it really matter right now?'_ Netto groaned. _'Please slot that thing in before a navi gets deleted.'_

Forte rolled his eyes, but complied. "Battle chip, Elec Sword, slot in!"

Rockman looked at his sword arm in confusion as it changed shape. _'Electricity is the Jelly's weakness!'_ Netto said. _'Use it against the virus!'_

"Got it!" Rockman replied back, and immediately started to aim the sword at the zigzagging Jelly. "I can't aim like this!"

"Can't aim like-oh, for fuck's sake!" Forte snapped. Netto winced at the curse. "I'm not just going to censor myself by cursing in another language or by using Serenade's name like you do! Just use the damn sword like a sword!"

Netto facepalmed. _'Wow, this doesn't happen often.'_

Forte took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm himself. _**'…Sorry. Today wasn't a good day for me.'**_

' _Part of it was my fault, anyways.'_ Netto sighed. _'I'll make it up to you, I promise.'_

' _ **I'll hold you to that, then.'**_ He looked back at the PET, at Rockman. "Just attack the Jelly."

' _Rockman definitely thinks you're some kind of split personality of mine now.'_

' _ **Rockman can take those thoughts somewhere else. I don't care what he thinks.'**_

Just then, a shark-like navi burst out of the digital tiles that served as a floor, striking at the Jelly. The Jelly froze in its movements.

' _Rockman, now!'_ Netto cried out. Rockman shouted a battle cry as he extended the Elec Sword through the virus, electrocuting and deleting it. _'You did it!'_

The unknown navi landed near Glyde and Rockman. "You did a good job of dispatching the enemy." He spoke. "Looks like you're quite skilled, Rockman."

' _Wait, how does he know Rockman…?"_

Rockman took a step forward. "You're the one who tackled it to help us."

"But at that rate you won't get any better than me."

' _Hey! That's rude!'_

' _ **But it's true.'**_

' _Just because it is doesn't mean I have to like it!'_

"Sorry I dragged you into that trouble with the computer virus." He continued. "I don't believe in being lenient to others."

"Who in the world are you?" Rockman asked.

"I'm called Sharkman. Until we meet again, Rockman." With that, the navi logged out.

Rockman looked at the spot where Sharkman was. "Sharkman…what is he?"

' _ **A navi, obviously.'**_

' _Forte!'_ Netto laughed. _'Your sense of humor sucks.'_

' _ **You laughed, so yours is terrible as well.'**_

* * *

When Netto regained consciousness in her own body, it was to a pounding headache and sore muscles. She blinked rapidly, and slapped her hands over her eyes to block out the light. Forte was suffering something similar.

"How long was I out?" She groaned, slowly massaging her head in an attempt to get rid of her headache.

"Five minutes." Rockman piped up. His PET was on the control panel, which meant that Netto would have to get up to take it. "Netto-kun, what happened back there? You were like a completely different person."

' _ **Maybe it was because I was.'**_ Forte grumbled.

' _He doesn't know that.'_ "It's nothing you need to worry about." She told Rockman.

"Alright…"

A few minutes passed before Netto finally decided to stand up, get Rockman's PET, and leave the room. _'I can't believe I forgot the consequences of us switching bodies like that.'_

' _ **It's been a year. Hopefully you'll remember this and won't carelessly use it anymore.'**_

Walking out of the aquarium, she noticed Meiru, Dekao, and Yaito at the base of the stairs. "You guys!" She called out, running down the stairs and nearly slipping a few times to greet them. "You're safe!"

"Netto-kun!" Meiru waved as Netto approached. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Everywhere hurts, but Netto just shook her head. "I'm fine." Wait, someone was missing. "Where did Masa-san go?"

"He distracted the shark so we would be able to get here." Dekao explained.

Netto nodded. "I see." She stuck her hand into her pocket, bringing out the fish skeleton. "I wonder who threw this…maybe I can melt this down and use it for something." Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. "Wait…melt…metal…metal…a junkyard!" She brightened. "I forgot about those!"

"Why do you want a junkyard?" Yaito asked, the other two nodding in agreement.

"Junkyards!" Netto beamed. "There's so much stuff you can find in them! Discarded tablets, games, machinery…the entire place is like a treasure trove! Plus, it's all free!" She looked up at the sky. "There's still plenty of time before dinner, so I have time to look for it. Bye!" With that, she sped off, intent on bringing back more than enough materials for her next project.

* * *

Longer than usual chapter here. Partly to make up for the wait and partly because of new things I introduced to the chapter, like the extent of Netto and Forte's bond.

They can switch bodies whenever, but have to wait at least an hour to switch back safely. Otherwise, they would both get major headaches and be unbalanced. This is why they don't use it very often. The benefit from doing this would be to give the other some rest in a situation where that's not possible. The thing with the body swap is that they're still tied to their bodies, and won't be able to feel anything that happens to the other's body. For example, if Forte gets hurt when he's in Netto's body, he won't feel it, but Netto will get a vague sense of it. This is why it's mostly used in emergencies.

In Megaman Megamix Volume One (I think?), Wily was scrolling around a junkyard when he found something that would later become one of his robots. That's where I got the idea that a junkyard would be a great place for PTT Netto to get materials for free. Since a junkyard's there for the purpose of being a stopping point for garbage until it's been reused, recycled, or sent somewhere else, Netto would really like scavenging in them, especially in the technology-heavy world that Rockman EXE takes place in.

Netto curses occasionally, often in another language that she thinks the people near her won't know, or uses Serenade's name in place of the curse. After all, only people who know about the Uranet know of the legend of Serenade, fabled ruler of the Uranet. Though, it's just a legend.

Forte just holds all his thoughts in until something gets him over his breaking point. At that point, he had at least one curse per sentence.

Forte and Netto have terrible sense of humor confirmed.

If there are any questions that you have, feel free to leave it in the reviews or PM me!


	9. Child

Ai Star: That's great! I wasn't sure if I could pull the body-switching thing off without too much confusion. I'm glad you liked it!

XxBlueacidxX: Here it is!

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Child

 _It was hard to breath. Sometimes, it felt like the breathing had stopped._

 _There was pain everywhere._

 _Couldn't move._

 _Couldn't scream._

 _Couldn't see._

 _Couldn't hear._

 _Where was this place? Why was there only pain?_

 _Painpainpainithurtsithurtsithurts—_

 _Why isn't there anyone here? Shouldn't there be… no, can't remember._

 _Want to leave. Want to not hurt anymore._

 _Nodontthepainmeanslivingbutithurtsithurtssomuchstopitplease—_

 _A single coherent thought slowly formed._

 _PleasepleasehelpdontwantthepainanymoreSOMEONEHEL—_

Netto jolted up in bed, tears running down her face and a hand slapped over her mouth in an attempt to prevent any screams from escaping. Her other hand clutched the bedsheets tightly, her entire body shaking in terror from the nightmare. It had been so long since the last one, and she had thought they disappeared completely. Apparently not.

The PET on her desk—Rockman's—flickered on, and Netto quickly wiped away her tears away. Rockman appeared on the screen soon, his skin a bit paler than usual. Had he caught a glimpse of her dream?

"N-Netto-kun…" His voice shook, causing him to stutter a bit. "…What was that?"

"Just a nightmare," she replied curtly, unwilling to think about it anymore. ( _Painpainpleasestopdon'twant—_ ) "I'll be fine." She tried to relax, taking deep, slow breaths to calm herself. "Thanks, though."

"That's what partners do, right?"

Netto smiled weakly and nodded, lying back down and pulling the covers up to her chin. "Yeah. Good night, Rockman."

"Good night, Netto-kun." The light faded, leaving Netto alone with her thoughts.

That nightmare had to be connected to her amnesia, but she couldn't figure out how. And if whatever happened had caused her that much pain, did she really want to know?

Soft humming attracted Netto's attention, and she stilled. It was Forte, humming a lullaby that she had only heard a few times. Of course he would do that to get her to sleep after a nightmare. Netto yawned, closing her eyes.

' _Good night, Forte.'_

When she fell asleep again, it was without nightmares.

* * *

"Oy, Netto-kun," Dekao called out, speeding up to her on his scooter. Meiru joined them, humming cheerfully. The final bell had rung, and most of the students were leaving the school. "How about a match at Game Soul?"

"Sure!" Netto nodded, and then turned to look at Meiru. "Are you going to come?"

She shook her head sheepishly. "I have a piano lesson."

"Oh, I see." There was the sound of running footsteps, and then someone bumped into Netto. She stumbled and fell, scraping her hands on the concrete.

"Sorry!" The boy who ran into her called out, not slowing down and continued on his way. Netto winced, more from surprise than from pain, and noticed a card that was on the ground beside her.

She picked it up, slowly getting on her feet and called after the boy. "Hey, you dropped something!" He didn't slow down. "Hey!" He turned the corner, not having heard her, and disappeared from view.

"What's with him?" Dekao asked.

"That's Hikawa-kun from Class B," Meiru informed a confused Netto.

"Hikawa-kun?"

"His dad works at the water plant."

Netto looked at the card she held. "So this is a water plant card key, huh?" She pocketed it. "I'll give it back the next time I see him."

* * *

Netto rubs her eyes, yawning tiredly. As always, creating a robot's design was the most tiring part of the entire process. At least with the actual creation, there's a lot more action that could keep her awake. She blinks slowly at the piece of paper on her desk, then stands up, heading downstairs to get a drink of water.

She stops at the sight of Haruka moving the sink handle up and down, and a lack of water that should be coming out of the faucet. "What's wrong, Mama?"

Haruka turns to look at her daughter. "The sink isn't working," she sighs, and Netto notices the pile of dishes that still need to be washed. "I wonder if it's a water outage."

Netto blinks. "Water outage?" Those things should be handled by the water plant. And since she still has the water plant card key, she could go see what was wrong.

' _ **Tomorrow.'**_ Forte speaks up. She looks out the window, and sees that night has fallen.

' _Yeah, tomorrow sounds good.'_

* * *

"Netto, can you go buy some water?" Haruka calls out from the kitchen the next day. School had been canceled since the water outage still hasn't been resolved. No one wanted any students or teachers to collapse from dehydration.

Netto pauses, already in the process of putting on her skates. "Sure!" she calls out. Might as well do some errands before heading to her destination. She steps out of the house, closes the door behind her, and heads toward the nearest general store.

… Which has two lines of people, long lines that stretches back along the street and even further. She can't see the end of it.

"Netto-kun!" Netto hears Meiru's voice, and turns to see her with Dekao.

"Ah, Dekao-kun, Meiru-chan!" she waves.

"Have you come to buy water too?" Meiru asks. Netto nods in response.

"It's no good," Dekao informs her, "With all the people here, they're bound to be sold out."

' _ **If they haven't already sold out.'**_ Forte remarks, and Netto agrees with him.

Suddenly, there was shouting from inside the general store, and the trio peeks through the window to see what's going on. It was Masa, who had gotten there just as all of the water has been sold out. He yells at the employee about what would happen to his fish without the water they need, and storms out. Meiru and Dekao sigh in unison.

Dekao brightens, having thought of an idea. "How about we go see if Yaito-chan has any water?" he asks. Netto and Meiru look at each other, then back at Dekao, and nod. And with that, the plan was changed.

They enter through the front gate after talking with someone who appears to be the butler, and are guided to a room. Yaito is there waiting for them, and the maids set several large containers filled with water on the ground next to them.

Netto looks around, admiring the interior decorating and fountain in the room. "Being rich really has its perks." Grandpa's home was just a bit smaller, but a large number of rooms were used for robotics projects. It was nothing like Yaito's place.

Yaito grins, pleased at the comment. "I guess. Every day we make sure we have a year's supply of water in reserve."

' _ **How do they count that?'**_ Surprisingly, Forte sounds genuinely curious. _**'Would it just be the Ayanokouji family, or would it include the servants? If it included the servants, how many are there and how much water would that be?'**_

' _I don't know and I would rather not ask.'_

' _ **Spoilsport.'**_

"That's just like the head of Gabcom!" Dekao picks up one of the containers and lightly shakes it, listening to the sound of the water splashing around inside. "You're really lucky!"

"But isn't it weird?" Meiru points out. "Isn't the water plant there for emergency water shortages?"

"It is." Netto nods, taking out Rockman's PET. "If Rockman had security clearance, he could go take a look."

"I don't." Rockman gives an apologetic shrug.

"But Glyde does." Yaito runs over to Netto, looking up at her. "Want me to have Glyde go there?" she winks.

'… _What just happened?'_

' _ **You established yourself as the leader figure.'**_

' _O… kay?'_

* * *

"Glyde has a Level Seven security license, you know," Yaito tells them proudly. They're in the secret base, and the hologram starts up, showing the navi himself.

"Yaito-sama, I've connected to the water plant system," He informs them, "Now attempting to override the firewall."

"Okay!" Yaito chirps, and Glyde's form separates into data as he teleports.

He appears again soon after, and Netto can see ice-covered platforms in the background. "We've got an emergency, Yaito-sama! It's covered in ice!" he shouts. "All of the internal circuits are frozen!" There are sounds of static, but not loud enough to be too distracting.

"Frozen?" Netto murmurs to herself. It's easy to assume that WWW was behind it again, since they were the main reason for almost everything eventful so far.

Glyde screams, drawing Netto's attention to the hologram before the static rose in volume and the image fades. She blinks at the empty space where the hologram was, and wonders if Glyde was frozen just like the water plant system. It would be better than being deleted.

"Glyde!" Yaito calls out in worry. There is no response, nor does the hologram show his location. "Glyde!"

"What happened to Glyde?" Meiru asks, turning to Netto as if she had the answer.

"He probably got discovered by whoever froze the systems," Netto guessed. The security navis should have fixed it, and their absence would mean that whoever is still active in the system would be the culprit. "If we go to the water plant, we could find out."

Yaito turns and sits down on the couch. "Hurry up and sit down, you guys!" She points to the other couch to emphasize her sentence. Pulling out a remote, she presses a few buttons as the other three seat themselves. "Gate Three, open!" She spreads her arms out, allowing the seatbelt that had suddenly appeared to fasten themselves. Her seat then straightens so that it's perpendicular to the floor, and Yaito disappears down a hole.

Seatbelts pop up from between the seats, and Meiru, Dekao, and Netto yell in surprise as the couch jerks and falls down another hole.

' _ **How do they manage this?'**_ Forte wonders, but Netto was too busy keeping a tight hold on her backpack to answer.

The couch slows down its descent and stops, and then moves to the left. It stops again and rises, filling up space in a yellow car.

' _ **That was fun.'**_

' _Of course you'd think that.'_

"To the water plant!" Yaito proclaims from behind them.

"Yes, Ojou-sama," the driver answers, pressing a button. They're soon on their way, the scenery whizzing by.

' _As soon as we reach the water plant, plug me into the system,'_ Rockman says, _'I'll try to save Glyde.'_

' _Got it.'_ They reach the water plant in a matter of minutes, and has to maneuver through an angry crowd of people inside. The elevator was empty, and they cram inside before someone takes notice. Meiru presses a button, and the elevator starts.

"Are we there yet?" Dekao immediately asks. Yaito shoots him a glare.

"The water reservoir provides clean water to the public," Meiru answers before an argument can start, "that's where we're headed."

Slinging her backpack off her back and setting it to the ground, Netto unzips one of the smaller sections and gently takes out some objects, hiding it from her classmates' views. She holds the hand up to the side of her head, feeling a slight tug as the objects latch tightly onto her hair, hidden.

"What was that?" Meiru asks, watching as Netto zips everything up and slings the backpack to its original position on her back.

"Just some backups in case of complications."

A ding signals them that they were at their floor, and they all stand up. The elevator doors slide open, and everyone gasps in surprise at the security robot that stands in front of them.

' _Why is the security robot here of all places?'_

' _ **To give trespassers a good scare, I guess.'**_

'… _Sure.'_

"What should we do?" Meiru asks, "Will it let us pass?"

Netto looks at the redhead, then back at the security robot, wondering if they were seeing the same thing. The robot's eyes aren't bright, which clearly means that it's off.

' _ **They don't know robots as well as you do,'**_ Forte sighs.

' _Oh. Right.'_

"Run!" Dekao screams.

Netto rubs at her eyes as the level of panic seems to increase. "No, the water plant's system is offline. That means that the security robot is offline too."

Dekao walked up to the robot and scowls. "Don't scare me like that!" Netto blinks, suddenly remembering another piece of information.

"Oh, yeah. Even if the robot's currently offline, if it receives a strong enough shock—" Dekao takes this time to punch the robot in the head. "—there's a chance that it might…" The robot's yellow eyes starts glowing and an alarm sounds. "… Oh boy." Netto groans.

"Dekao!" Meiru and Yaito scream, glaring at the boy. The security robot starts moving, chasing after the girls, who scream and starts running down a hallway.

' _WhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?!"_ The robot's not really giving her enough time to think of a way to stop it.

' _ **Ah…'**_ Forte had absolutely no idea. Netto has never provoked a robot on purpose, after all. _**'Hope it doesn't have weapons?'**_

' _Why would it be a security robot if it doesn't have some kind of weapon!?'_

' _ **Hmm…run faster?'**_

Netto feels herself being lifted up, a metal grip around her midsection. _'A bit late for that!'_ She shrieks, tugging on the robot's fingers. "Let me go! Let me go!" The robot suddenly stops, and momentum sends Netto flying. She lands on her head and rolls forward a few feet, then stops in front of a door. Grasping her head in pain, she curls up into a ball and groans.

' _Owowowowowow…'_

' _ **Do you need me to take over?'**_ Forte asks in worry.

' _No, I… ow, I don't think I have a concussion, and Meiru-chan might notice like last time. I'll be fine after a moment.'_

"Netto-kun!" Meiru rushes up to her. "Are you alright?" In the background, they can hear Dekao praising Gutsman for stopping the robot.

Netto slowly sits up, wiping away any tears that might have escaped her eyes, and smiles shakily. "I don't have a concussion, so I'm fine."

"I think your definition of 'fine' is way different than what the rest of us think is fine," Yaito comments.

Netto laughs a little at that and stands up, using the door to support herself. Noticing a port near it, she takes out Rockman's PET. "You ready?"

Rockman nods, though he looks a bit worried for her health. "Anytime!"

"Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

The first thing Rockman does when he enters the water plant system is to take a look around at his surroundings. As far as he can see, everything's covered in ice. "This is horrible…" He walks forward, stopping and staring up at one of the largest icicles in the area. He squints at it, to the navi trapped inside. "That's… Glyde! Netto-kun, all of the water plant's circuits are covered in ice! All of the system's programs are frozen!"

"How…" Netto trails off, and then continues, "Be careful; whoever did that might still be in the system."

"Got it." He turns his attention back to the frozen Glyde. "But who could have done this?" A reflection on the icicle catches his attention, and instinct has him jumping up to avoid the incoming attack before he can process it. He lands after a backflip, facing his attacker, a child-sized navi.

"Who are you?" he asks. The attack had been a gust of wind and snow, and he was sure that the child navi was the one who had frozen the system. "And why do something so horrible?"

"Shut up!" the navi shouts, slamming a gloved hand onto the ground. Icicles shoot out, surrounding Rockman and blocking his view of the navi. A few buster shots destroys the ice easily. Looking forward, there is no sign of the navi.

Rockman notices movement from above. Hesnaps his head up, spotting his opponent, who is now equipped with a sword. As the navi utters a battle cry and swings his sword, Rockman goes through and discards several options.

Dodge it; the icicles prevent him from moving far in any direction.

Jump; there is a chance that the sword might hit its mark.

Rockbuster; the navi is small, so there is a chance that he might miss.

That leaves only one other option.

He slaps the palms of his hands on both flat sides of the sword, keeping himself as uninjured as possible while preventing his opponent from attacking further.

' _Wha… Rockman, how did you do that?'_ Netto cuts in at an inconvenient time.

' _Spur of the moment…'_ he shouts, using his strength to throw the navi at an icicle. _'… thing!'_ The navi slumps, dazed, and his sword transforms back into an arm. Rockman heads over to him, placing his hands on his hips. "Now, return everything back to normal! Hurry!"

"Rockman!" a familiar voice drawls out, and he turns to the source. He freezes.

Because Coloredman, a WWW navi, is _standing next to the icicle that Glyde was trapped in._

Coloredman smiles when he sees that he has caught Rockman's attention and bows. Straightening up, he points to Glyde. "If you don't behave, I'll delete your friend here." He laughs, and then glares at the child navi. "Iceman."

Iceman stands up and attacks with a gust of snow, and Rockman covers his face as a feeble defense. Ice forms on his legs, rendering him immobile, and slowly crawls up his body.

' _Sorry… Netto-kun…'_ His consciousness slowly faded.

' _Rockman, hang in there! Ro... kman! R… k... n…'_

* * *

Netto gritted her teeth in frustration as Rockman's PET beeped, an error screen showing up as the chip she had slotted in was ejected. She inserted the chip again, only to get the same results.

"No good." She lightly bit her lip. "I can't send any battle chips." And Rockman wasn't responding to her at all.

"Could it be that Rockman was frozen?" Meiru asked. Netto slowly nodded, rubbing at her arm.

"Don't worry, Netto-kun." Dekao grinned. Netto wasn't sure if that was a good thing. The boy held up his PET. "Gutsman, it's our turn!"

"Leave it to me, guts!" He tugged on the PET wire, disconnecting it from the security robot.

' _ **What-'**_

Netto's eyes widened. "Wait, if you do that, then-"

Alarms began blaring once more and the teenagers could only run away, pursued by the robot yet again.

' _Ne… tto… kun…'_ Said person almost tripped when she heard the voice.

' _Rockman! Are you alright?'_

' _Yes, but… I'm trapped in ice. I can't move.'_

' _Okay, I'll try to help as soon as I can.'_ Looking ahead, she saw convenient steel bars propped up against the wall. She gasped. "That's it!" Speeding up, she got behind the bars and gestured at the others. "Hurry up!" As soon as they ran past her, she kicked over the bars. The security robot paused, unable to get across. It began making noises of distress.

"I'm so sorry about this," Netto tried to comfort the robot. She gently took out one of the objects hidden in her hair and threw it. The robot fly buzzed, righting itself thanks to Forte's operating, and flew behind the robot, to where its ports should be.

'… _**Finished.'**_ Netto grinned at that, moving the bars to the walls. The security robot walked forward, and peered down at her. _**'…You're bleeding.'**_

Netto blinked in surprise, and she saw an image for a few seconds, of herself with blood slowly trickling down past her hair. She raised her hand up, brushing against the side of her head and feeling the warmth of the liquid. _'Oh. Must have been from that fall I had earlier.'_ It must have blended in because of her hair color. _'I don't think it's that bad.'_

' _ **You still need to get it treated.'**_ Netto gave a mental agreement, slipping her bandana off and taking out a plastic bag from her backpack. She sat on the floor, carefully using the contents of the bag to wipe away the blood and clean her wound. The other robot fly moved away from her head and settled on her shoulder. As she tied a bandage around her head, making sure it wasn't too tight, she heard the sound of footsteps from behind her.

A sharp gasp. "Netto-kun!"

Netto tugged on the bandage, making sure it was secure, and tossed everything else into a nearby garbage can. She put her bandana back on and turned around. "Ah, Meiru-chan!"

"What happened to you?" Meiru asked, examining the bandage.

Netto laughed. "It's nothing serious." She felt herself being lifted up, and seated on the security robot's back. She pouted. "I'm fine, really!"

' _ **You can't convince me with our link in place.'**_

' _Hey!'_

"You have a card key, right?" Yaito spoke up. Netto turned her head to face the blonde, and nodded. "There's a door at the end of this hallway that needs a card key to open. We heard someone in there calling for help."

"Oh, okay." Netto took out the card key and made to jump off when the robot fly that was on her shoulder snatches the card key out of her hands and drops it in Meiru's. She glared at it. "You traitor." Forte decided to start moving the security robot now, while the fly returned to its place on her shoulder.

Meiru unlocked the door and opened it to what seemed to be a storage room with the lights turned off. "Hello?" she called out. There was a silhouette at the other side of the room. "We're here to help. Who are you?"

"I'm Hikawa, a technician," he introduced himself.

"Ah, could you perhaps be Akihara High, Class B's…" she trailed off as the man stepped forward, allowing the teenagers to see the rope binding his arms together.

"I'm Hikawa Tohru's father," he answered.

' _ **Why is he allowed to walk around?'**_

' _Who knows?'_ She hopped off the robot, and Forte reluctantly forced it to shut down.

"…refused to cooperate with that person," Hikawa was saying, "WWW imprisoned me and took my son hostage. Iceman's operator is none other than Tohru himself."

Ah, that might be why Tohru had the card key.

"Let's hurry and go tell Tohru-kun that his father's safe," Meiru suggested. Hikawa's watch began to beep.

"What is it this time?" Yaito asked.

"The system's been shut down for fifteen hours," Hikawa explained, "if the system remains offline, the bacteria in the purification tank will flow into the city water!"

Netto winced. That pretty much just amounted to poisoning the water. And why was it mostly just Akihara Town that gets attacked?

"Soon, the water in the purifying tank will be released," he continued, "We've got to close off the system before that happens!"

"How do we do that?" Dekao asked.

"I'll do it somehow," he sounded confident. "You guys can lend me a hand!"

"Meiru-chan, Yaito-chan, you guys should go take care of Tohru-kun," Netto suggested, "Dekao-kun and I will go help Hikawa-san."

"But—" Meiru started.

"It's just a minor wound," Netto reassured, "I'll be _fine_."

' _ **Are you sure?'**_

' _Yes!'_

"If you get yourself injured again, I'm going to say 'I told you so,'" Yaito huffed. Netto smiled and nodded. Yaito nodded back, and tugged on Meiru's wrist. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Netto watched as Hikawa hit the chains of a large pipe valve with an iron bar. "What's this?"

"Long ago, this is how we controlled the water flow," he explained, "we can always replace the water main later. If we close the valve, it should put an end to this." He grunted, breaking the chain. Grabbing the edge of the valve, he turned to face them. "Please!"

"Right!" Dekao and Netto walked forward, pulling downward on their side of the valve. It slowly rotated with a horrible squeaking noise that suggests that the valve hadn't been oiled for a long time.

Once they were done, the two teens staggered back, sighing in relief.

"We're not done yet," Hikawa reminded them, "let's keep on going!"

' _Netto-kun!'_ Rockman exclaimed as they continued closing the valves, _'Coloredman's trying to delete Iceman!'_

' _Shoot, we need to hurry!'_ They were on the last valve now. _'… We made it!'_ She could hear the water flowing, and shared a grin with Dekao. They looked at Hikawa, who nodded proudly.

"Success!"

' _Iceman freed me!'_ And that was even better.

' _I'll be right there!'_ Dekao on her heels, she raced to the control room, slamming open the door and connecting Rockman's PET to the system. She pulled out a battle chip from her pocket and briefly glanced at it. "Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!"

She watched as Rockman got rid of Coloredman's pink-haired clones. _'Netto-kun!'_

"Let's go, Rockman! Battle chip, Elec Sword, slot in!" As the sword formed on Rockman's arm, he lunged forward, cutting into the ball Coloredman always sat on and forcing him to log out.

The blue navi ran to Iceman's side, and Netto was able to take a good look at him. "Iceman, are you alright?"

"Rockman…" he said weakly, and smiled as he logged out as well.

The door slid open, and Hikawa stepped in. "Tohru!"

Tohru looked up, surprised. Meiru took this time to guide the others out the room. "They need some privacy," she explained when Netto asked.

While they stood outside the control room, Netto fidgeted. _'What kind of present should I get for Grandpa?'_

Forte hummed in thought. _**'The usual?'**_

' _I want to find something better than that, though…'_

' _ **Come to think of it, the old man mentioned that he was running out of Sharoian metal in one of his emails.'**_

' _Then that's what we'll get for him!'_

The door slid open again, with Tohru and his father coming out. Tohru looked at the group, then down at the floor in guilt. "I'm sorry, everyone. Because of me…"

"No need to worry," Meiru interrupted. She glanced at Netto.

Netto blinked in confusion, then realized what Meiru wanted her to say, being Rockman's operator and all. "Yeah, it's fine. We understand your reasons."

"Mmhmm." Yaito nodded, "It's all because of WWW, so it's their fault."

"Well, thanks to me, we were able to save the day in time!" Dekao bragged.

Yaito slapped him on the shoulder. "Liar!"

"Right?" Netto smiled, ignoring the scene that was occurring behind her.

Tohru raised his head and he relaxed, relieved. "Everyone…"

In the cyber world, a similar scene was happening.

"Let's be friends from now on," Rockman said, "pleased to meet you, Iceman."

They shook hands. "Thank you, Rockman," Iceman smiled, "Thank you, everyone."

"I have to say…" Netto cut in, unaware of the current mood, "… Iceman's a really cute navi." Iceman's jaw dropped and he blushed at the compliment. "I think he's as cute as Roll-chan!"

Roll covered her red face with her hands. "Netto-kun, you're embarrassing me!"

"But it's true!"

* * *

Whoo, look at that nightmare scene I managed to do. Rockman and Forte were in sleep mode, so the nightmare caused them to wake up.

Really, Rockman's plan to stop Iceman's sword attack was pretty reckless. Please don't try this at all.

Netto tends to get herself into a lot of trouble, so first-aid kit is a necessity when traveling. She's lucky that a bloody scrape's all she got.

It's sad that all that technology caused people to _forget to maintain their equipment._ Seriously, the valves looked really rusty and the noise it made when it was turning helps to prove that maintenance is a must.


	10. Game

Ai Star: Yeah, Forte's a bit protective of Netto, though Netto isn't as much because Forte made himself seem indestructible. And Netto just loves to comment on the good points of the navis she meets.

Guest: You're the third person to guess that! There just aren't enough cool old people in this show. The event that happened when Netto was five was briefly explained in chapter three, but it will be expanded on in a later chapter. As for the amnesia… you'll find out eventually.

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Game

"Last night, the Hakubu Museum was broken into, and the Saruhige Mask was stolen." A section of Rockman's PET was displaying the news, and the navi was watching it as Netto carried a bag of bolts and wires around in one hand, the PET in another. "Like last week's jewelry shop robbery and the museum robbery from two days before, the new security system was completely fried. The police are suspecting that the same culprit is at fault."

"Is there a reason why you're suddenly interested in the news?" Rockman asked, fiddling around with the volume.

"There are way too many incidents that happen around here," Netto explained, "I thought that I might be able to predict some of them if I watch the news."

Rockman nodded in understanding, then switched to another news station. The screen now showed a seemingly ordinary museum, with no broken glass cases. However, one of the objects that was supposed to be displayed was missing.

"Last night, the Tsukan Museum was broken into, and a valuable metal was stolen," the news reporter said in a monotone voice, "the guards were knocked unconscious with sleeping gas and the main system was tampered with. Due to the style of the robbery and the lack of evidence of the culprit, the police are suspecting that it was the work of the international criminal, Black Shadow."

"There sure are a lot of robberies lately," Rockman commented.

Netto laughed. "There's something happening at least once a week. I wouldn't be surprised if someone managed to hijack the traffic lights."

"Netto-kun, Coloredman did that last month," the navi pointed out dryly.

"Oh, right."

' _ **Guess what I found out about the robberies,'**_ Forte spoke up.

' _Which one?'_

' _ **The chain robberies.'**_

' _What about them?'_

' _ **The first one involving the jewelry shop had a Level Six security system. Rensan Museum's was Level Seven.'**_

' _I'm guessing that Hakubu Museum was Level Eight?'_

' _ **Yes.'**_

' _I don't really know what I would do with that information since it's unlikely that it will involve me, but I'll keep that in mind.'_ Netto passed Higureya and paused, frowning in confusion at the extremely long line in front of the shop. "Hey, Rockman. Is there something going on today?"

"Eh?" Rockman quickly glanced through the news bulletin. "I'm not sure. There's too much coverage on the robberies."

"Huh." Well, Netto didn't have the money or patience to shop for battle chips anyway, so she continued on.

"Ah, Netto-kun!" Meiru waved at her, standing with Dekao at the end of the line. "Are you here for the game too?"

Netto waved back, skating over to them. "What's with the line?" she asked, "and what game are you talking about?"

There was a screech of bicycle wheels from behind her. "Hey, what's this line?" Masa questioned, "Is the Prime Minister here or something?"

"No, Masa-san," Roll answered from her PET, "it's a preorder for a game."

"A game?"

"Maxima's Warrior is releasing tomorrow," Meiru spoke up with a smile on her face.

"Stick fireworks?"

"Maxima's what?" Netto asked.

' _ **Warrior.'**_ Forte said the word in Ameropian, and then in Creamlandish.

"Oh. Warrior. Got it."

"R-E-L-E-A-S-E!" Meiru exclaimed, speaking slower so Masa wouldn't get confused. "There's going to be a limited amount, so it's first come first serve!"

"But we need to preorder the game or else there's no way we'll get our hands on it!" Dekao interjected. "That's why everyone's lining up! This game is the part of the hottest RPG series that uses the VR System!"

The fisherman sputtered indignantly. "How foolish! I don't care if it's TKO or DNA!" The bicycle crashed to the ground as he jumped off. "What a pity, children lining up for a stupid game!" Then he started running to the front of the line, where Higure was. "I won't allow it!"

"So… what's RPG?" Netto asked sheepishly.

Meiru and Dekao gaped at her. "You don't know what an RPG is?" Dekao asked.

Netto shook her head.

"RPG stands for Roleplaying Game," Meiru explained, "It's a common genre in video games." She paused, giving Netto a considering look. "Have you… ever played a video game before?"

Netto shook her head again.

"Where did you live?!" Dekao exclaimed. "To think that there was someone who had never played a video game before…"

Netto's cheeks flushed pink. "There was just a lot of work to do," she mumbled, "Since it was just me and Grandpa most of the time. Not counting the home lessons."

"Well then," Meiru declared, "we'll just have to play Maxima's Warrior together!"

"Talk about it all you want, but you still have to get the game first," Rockman said, "and you lost your place in line a while back."

"Eh!?" Meiru and Dekao spun around, groaning when they saw how long the line had gotten.

"Let's see…" Dekao stepped toward the line, looking for their previous spot. "I think we were around here…"

"Hey, no cutting in line!" Masa yelled, having returned from his argument with Higure. Mariko was there too, having arrived while they weren't paying attention.

Meiru and Dekao dashed off to the end of the line, with Netto slowly following after them.

Higure was at the end, and held out a hand to stop them. "I'm sorry, but all preorders are filled." He set down a sign that said exactly that.

"It can't be…" The two sank onto the ground, sighing dejectedly.

'… _Are video games really that important?'_

' _ **I wouldn't know.'**_

Netto turned her head at the screech of car tires and spotted a pink limo. The limo's window rolled down, and Yaito popped her head out.

"Hey, what are you guys doing there?"

"Yaito-chan!" The three classmates ran over to her.

"Did you guys fail to buy the preorder ticket for Maxima's Warrior?" she guessed, and received nods as answers. "Then why don't you come over to my house? My papa's the president of Gabcom, after all. If I ask him, I could get it really fast!"

"That's right!" Dekao gasped, "We could have asked you!"

"You… only just realized that now?"

Netto looked down at the bag she was still holding. _'I guess I'm going to be carrying this around longer than I thought I would.'_

' _ **Don't lose it.'**_

* * *

It turned out that she didn't have to lug the bag of bolts and wires around after all. The four were to meet at Yaito's house for dinner.

Netto chewed on a piece of meat, occasionally glancing over at the man—Yaito's father—at the head of the table. Since Yaito was sitting next to him, she could see some similarities between them.

"This is the first time Yaito has ever brought guests to dinner." He smiled. In his hand was a wine glass filled with orange liquid. "Despite how she looks, my daughter is very shy."

Forte was distracted by the quartet of string players that were creating background noise, probably because he had not seen that sight before. Especially during mealtime.

Meiru giggled quietly. "That's quite a surprise."

"But she's not very gentle," the man added.

Yaito pouted. "Geez, Papa."

He laughed. "I'm sorry. By the way," he addressed the others, "you guys weren't able to preorder Maxima's Warrior?"

"That's right!" Dekao confirmed, stopping momentarily from stuffing his face. "I saved my allowance and was looking forward to it!"

"But they sold out at the very end." Meiru sighed.

"It's going to release tomorrow, but we can play it today!" Yaito turned to face her father. "Right? Please, Papa!"

"My my, I can never refuse when Yaito asks for a favor."

Yaito cheered. "Thank you, Papa!" She gave her classmates a thumbs-up.

* * *

After dinner, they were guided to a room full of computers.

Dekao made a noise of amazement as he looked around. "This is like an electronic fortress!"

"The original data of new games are all saved onto this computer," Yaito's father explained. "Tomorrow morning, Maxima's Warrior will be sent to stores all over the nation."

"In other words," Netto started, "if this data was stolen…"

"There's no need to worry about that," he assured her, "This place is protected with a Level Nine security system. The original data is protected by an even stronger Security System; Level Ten."

Something about that sounded seemed familiar…

"Any intruders would be caught on sight!" Yaito piped up.

"We know." Netto turned to glare at Dekao, who gulped nervously and looked away. They both remembered that incident. Meiru looked at them both in confusion, having not been there.

"By the way, Papa." Yaito turned around, facing her father. "Let us play Maxima's Warrior now!"

"Not today, because the release date is tomorrow," he said sternly.

"Eehhh?" Yaito whined. "But earlier you said it was okay!"

"As soon as the clock strikes midnight, you can play."

' _Forte, does something about the security systems sound familiar?'_

' _ **Hm?'**_ He paused, in the process of writing out an email to Netto's next client, and reviewed the conversation. _**'Oh, that. Six, Seven, Eight.'**_

' _What?'_ What did those numbers have to do with… oh. _'You mean the robberies?'_

' _ **Yes. The ones not committed by the Black Shadow.'**_ He snickered at the name. _**'If the culprit was destroying security systems in order of difficulty, then they would target a Level Nine system next.'**_

' _But they stole valuable items too. Would they really take game data?'_

' _ **We can't read the minds of people like them. We can only do that with—'**_

"Netto, come on!" Meiru took the girl by the hand, unknowingly interrupting her conversation with Forte. "We're heading over to the secret base now to wait for the release of Maxima's Warrior!"

"Oh, okay." Netto nodded. "Let's go, then."

' _ **Don't forget to do that thing.'**_

' _There's still plenty of time before midnight. I can do it then.'_

* * *

"It's 11:45," Meiru announced. "Fifteen minutes left!"

Dekao snored loudly from his spot on the couch, mumbling something about food.

Netto hummed in agreement, her attention on the contents of a book. She flipped a page, slowly moving through the words and sentences. Whenever she got stuck on a difficult phrase, Forte translated it out for her in a different language until she got the gist of it and moved on.

"What book is that?" Yaito asked curiously.

Netto glanced at the cover. " _The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie,_ " she answered, flipping back to her spot in the book.

"… What?"

Netto nodded distractedly, making guesses and bets with Forte on who the killer was. " _I bought it in Creamland, but I didn't have time to read it much until recently,_ " she explained, unaware of her classmates' growing confusion. " _I'm at the part where the detective is interviewing the suspects. Have you read this before, Yaito?_ " She looked up, noticing the look that both Yaito and Meiru sported. She blinked. " _Is something wrong?"_

"Uh… Netto-kun…" Meiru hesitated.

"We can't understand anything you're saying." Yaito said bluntly. "You're talking in a different language."

" _I am?_ " Netto paused, listening to herself. " _Oh. I am._ " She must have gotten too caught up in her book. "Sho-ry." Stumbling over the word, she cleared her throat and tried again. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Meiru waved it off. "What language was that?"

"Creamlandish." Netto placed a bookmark between the open pages and closed the book, placing it back inside her backpack. "I got the book in Creamland."

"Really?" Yaito raised an eyebrow. "How many do you know?"

"Languages?" she asked for clarification.

The blonde nodded.

"Well, I've never really counted. I know all the major ones, and there's some that I'm still trying to get the hang of. I do know that I can speak more than five."

"Oh, so that's why you have an accent!"

"I… have an accent?" Netto looked to Meiru for confirmation.

"Well, yeah," Meiru answered. "But it's understandable, so there weren't any problems." She turned to the big screen, checking the time. "One minute until midnight!" she cheered.

Netto watched as they excitedly counted down the seconds to midnight. Once the count reached zero, static noise filled the area as the screen showed nothing but black-and-white pixels. "Is this what the game is supposed to be?"

"No, it's not," Meiru said, "It's past midnight now, but the new game isn't here… what's going on?"

"That's weird," Yaito murmured, "Papa wouldn't break a promise."

The lights abruptly turned off and the three looked up, startled. The screen before them flickered, then showed a blond man in a yellowish suit.

"I am Count Elec of WWW!" the man announced, then laughed hysterically. "I have cleared this security system! Now, I'm going to steal the smiles of children from all over the country!" He laughed again.

"The smiles of children?" the voice of Yaito's father sounded through the speakers. He must be in the room where the original data is stored. "You mean, Maxima's Warrior will—"

" _That's right!_ " Count Elec replied in Ameropian. "That's delightful." He laughed yet again.

' _ **That hyena laugh is really annoying.'**_

' _Yeah, I know.'_ Netto organized the words she wanted to say in her head, and then yelled at the man in the same language. " _Don't be so damn rude! Meiru and Dekao really wanted to play this game! Whatever it is."_ She shook her head, continuing on. _"And really, attacking security systems in increasing consecutive order? That's as obvious a pattern as you can get!"_

' _ **You didn't pick up on it until I gave you a hint.'**_

' _I didn't care about it back then.'_ " _You have absolutely no class. Abolishing all those security systems; do you not know how fun it can be to manipulate them!?_ _It's like destroying is the only thing you know how to do!_ " She took a deep breath. _"I had a point! I'm going to defeat you, and make you pay for all that money that was wasted on the security systems!_ "

Count Elec smirked, taking her declaration in stride. "Then let's see you try to stop me!" He strummed his electric guitar, making the light bulbs on his hot air balloon light up. "It's showtime!"

A transparent wall came down, blocking off the door and windows that would have otherwise served as exits.

"What's with this!?" Netto slammed herself into the wall, trying in vain to break it down. She wouldn't be able to get to where Count Elec's navi was otherwise.

"The auto security wall has been activated!" Yaito informed helpfully. She took out her PET, checking with Glyde about the current status of WWW's attack, and gasped. "Oh, no! The final security system's been destroyed!"

"We have to somehow protect the data of Maxima's Warrior!" Meiru fretted.

' _ **The system was set to send the game to this place at midnight, right? Since it's past that time…'**_

"… If I plug into the monitor, then Rockman would be able to arrive at the center of the system!" Netto realized. She pulled Rockman's PET out from the holster, heading to the ports at the side of the monitor. She looked up when Meiru joined her, Roll's PET in her hands.

"I can't just let you fight him alone." Meiru glanced at Yaito, who was trying to shake Dekao awake. "Glyde isn't a fighting-class navi, and Dekao's a really heavy sleeper, so Gutsman won't be able to help anytime soon."

Netto nodded. "Okay, we'll face him together."

The two pulled out their PET cords.

"Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

"Plug in, Roll, transmission!"

Rockman blinked his eyes open, which widened as he spotted the data that was flowing upward. "That's…"

"The new game's original data." Rockman and Roll spun around to face the speaker—Elecman. "I am now sending it to my master."

"What an excellent night." Count Elec grinned. "Five minutes until download is complete."

"Guys, you have to stop that data upload!" Netto pulled out her meager collection of battle chips from her pocket, looking through them. _'Why didn't I buy any wood-element chips!?'_

' _ **You already used up your allowance for materials,'**_ Forte reminded her, _**'You thought that you didn't need new battle chips that soon.'**_

' _I am an idiot.'_

"Heart Slash!" Roll sent out a stream of razor-sharp pink hearts that shot towards Elecman, who jumped out of the way.

"Battle chip, Sword, slot in!" Rockman's arm transformed into a blade. He dashed forward, slashing horizontally, and cut into Elecman's abdomen. "Yes!"

"That's enough! Lightning slot in!" A giant bolt of electricity flashed down, striking Elecman.

Netto squinted at the screen, seeing the scattered data around the navi clustering near his wound, and gasped. "He's regenerating?!"

The lightning disappeared once the cut had healed, and Elecman smirked. "Revived." He attacked Rockman, striking with lightning that sent Rockman flying back.

Ignoring the mild tingling that was felt in her entire body, Netto turned to Meiru. "What battle chips do you have!?"

Meiru stuck her hand into her pocket, pulling out a few. "I have Sword, Area Steal, Cannon, and…" She looked at the last battle chip. "… Mini-Bomb."

Netto nodded, trying to formulate a strategy. "We need to get Maxima's Warrior back, so…" Her eyes landed on the Area Steal chip that the other girl held. "That's it!" She leaned forward, whispering her plan to Meiru.

A smile formed on Meiru's face, and her eyes shone in determination. "I can do that!" She selected the chip they needed and inserted it into the PET. "Battle chip, Mini-Bomb, slot in!"

Roll's hand closed around a blue ball with a green stripe around the middle and she glanced at it in surprise. Looking back up, she observed her surroundings.

Elecman guarding the data of Maxima's Warrior.

Rockman using his Rockbuster to distract their enemy.

The list of battle chips that Meiru had.

"Got it! Here I go!" With a yell, Roll threw the Mini-Bomb at Elecman as hard as she could. It smacked onto the side of his face and exploded, covering his immediate area in clouds of gray smoke. "Now!"

"Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!" Roll sped past Rockman and Elecman, leaving behind an afterimage as she raced to stop the data upload.

"Oh no you don't!" As the smoke cleared, a streak of lightning flashed towards Roll. She froze in terror.

"Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!" Netto inserted her own copy of the chip. "Battle chip, Barrier, slot in!"

Rockman disappeared, reappearing between Roll and the electric attack, which harmlessly bounced off the barrier and dissipated. "I'm your opponent!" he declared, aiming his buster at Elecman.

Elecman gritted his teeth, looking back and forth between Roll, who was now using her antennae to counter the upload, and Rockman, who stood between them and was ready to fight. "Very well. If you want to be deleted so badly, then so be it!"

"Hey, you!" Yaito stormed up to the screen, glaring angrily at Count Elec. "Why would an adult like you want to steal a new game!?"

"To bring confusion and fear into a society," he answered. "That's the WWW motto."

The teenagers stared blankly at him.

"The crying faces of children whose wish didn't come true," he snickered. "Just thinking about it makes me _very happy_!" He howled in laughter at that thought.

"That's the worst reason I had ever heard of," Forte stated bluntly.

' _I thought you were going to warn me before you do that?'_

' _ **I couldn't resist the commentary.'**_

Netto pouted in response, but picked out a chip. "No matter what the reason, we won't lose to someone like you! Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!"

"That's no use!" Count Elec screamed, "Elecman, destroy him!"

The navi raised his hands up, concentrating electricity into a ball of light. He blasted the ball toward Rockman, who countered with a barrage of energy pellets.

The two attacks caused a blinding explosion. Netto took this opening to slot in another Sword, which Rockman used to stab Elecman through the stomach.

"Did you forget?" Elecman asked, unbothered by the fact that he was injured. "I'm invincible." He grabbed onto the sword to hold Rockman in place as lightning came down, healing the navi again.

Rockman jerked the blade away, stumbling back just as large wooden spears erupted from the ground and blocked off the current. A navi with the appearance of a tree trunk jumped down from them, landing next to Rockman.

"I blocked off his power source," he said, "Elec is no longer invincible."

"Who are you?" Rockman asked warily.

"D-damn you!" Elecman growled, unleashing electrical energy at the newcomer.

It hit, but was ineffective against the wood-type navi. "No time to answer." he turned to Rockman, brushing off the question. "Fight him, Rockman!"

Surprised, Rockman nodded. "Netto-kun, I need another battle chip!"

"I don't have any chips that are wood-element," Netto thought aloud, "So either fire or elec-element chips would be enough. Ah, that's right!" She took out the only elemental chip she had in her pocket. "Battle chip. Elec-Sword, slot in!"

Rockman's sword arm now crackled with electric energy, and he pointed it at Elecman.

"Elec-Sword, huh?" The generators on his back started glowing. "Are you joking?!"

Rockman ran forward, holding the sword out in front of him to block the incoming attack. He jumped up, using the momentum to slash down and hit Elecman's chest, barely missing his emblem.

"Electricity…" the injured navi choked out in pain, "… the power of electricity…" His data separated, and he was forced to log out.

"Cancellation of data upload: Complete!" Roll chirped out, the remaining files of Maxima's Warrior returning to the place where it was stored.

"Netto-kun, we did it!" Meiru cheered, high-fiving her teammate.

Netto grinned, caught up in the mood. "Yeah, we did!"

"Who are you?" Rockman asked again, facing the unknown navi now that there were no more threats for the time being.

"My name is Woodman," he answered. "The smiles of children are safe now that the new game has been retrieved." Smiling, he continued: "We'll meet again, Rockman."

Woodman disappeared, having been logged out, and Rockman sighed in relief as he spotted the stolen files of Maxima's Warrior returning to join with the rest. "The original data is returning!"

Netto and her classmates—Dekao had woken up after Elecman retreated—ran out of the treehouse in time to see someone who had a dark-colored cape and a mask covering their face—likely Woodman's operator—walk to the entrance gate.

"Um…" Netto began. The vigilante stopped, turning their head to look at her, allowing her to see their green hair. "Thanks for your help!"

"You're welcome," they responded, raising a hand to wave, then continued walking away.

"So cool!" Dekao practically had stars in his eyes.

"I wonder who that was?" Yaito murmured.

Meiru shrugged. "I don't know… but I have a feeling we had met before."

Netto nodded in agreement. _'Forte, what do you think?'_

' _ **There aren't that many people with green hair that we know.'**_

' _No, I mean about Count Elec.'_

' _ **Hm?'**_

' _He looked familiar to me too. So does Elecman. Have I seen them somewhere before?'_

' _ **Perhaps. But at the moment, you should focus more on what you're going to tell your family about the visit to the old man.'**_

' _Oh, I guess I should.'_

* * *

"Have you found out anything about her origins yet?"

"I could only see scattered data and a pair of red eyes."

"Scattered data… deleted navis? And the red eyes… could they belong to Uranet's God of Destruction? They're the only one I could think of with that eye color."

"I don't know. I'm only telling you what I saw."

"But for us to only have that little piece of information… it's already been over a month since she came."

"We should talk with the commander, then decide what to do after that."

"Mmhmm… say, are you free tomorrow?"

"If I said yes?"

"I have two tickets to the amusement park."

"Heh, you know me well."

"So is that a yes?"

"We'll meet at the entrance at three. See you then."

* * *

Netto held still as Meiru helped her strap the feedback devices onto her arms and legs. "Is this really necessary?"

"Yes!" Meiru, Dekao, and Yaito answered simultaneously. They each wore their own devices and VR headsets. "You need it to get the full experience." Meiru handed Netto a headset, which she put on.

"Guys, you ready?" Yaito asked, receiving nods in answer. "Alright, Maxima's Warrior, start!" She snapped her fingers.

Netto gasped as her surroundings changed from the secret base they were in to a grassy field with a bright blue sky. "Whoa…"

"This is the start screen." Netto turned her head to Yaito's voice. She was tapping on a holographic screen in front of her. "You press this button, and the game will take you to the character customization area."

Netto looked back at her own screen and cautiously touched the word 'start'. The screen widened, now a body mirror with arrows at the sides. A plain-looking person was reflected in the mirror. Brown eyes, brown hair, white shirt and pants; the default character. She reached up and tapped the arrows next to the character's head, watching as the hair lengthened, then shortened into spikes. There was a 'random' button at the top of the mirror. She selected that, then shook her head at the waist-long dark hair, pale skin, and dark clothes with white moon-like symbols that the randomized character now had.

' _Forte, want to help?'_

' _ **Sure.'**_

She watched as her right hand moved on its own, shortening the character's hair into a mussed-up pixie cut. The hair color switched from black to brown to red, then settled on lavender. The eye color became a blood-red, while the rest of the facial structures matched Netto's. The leather armor was a standard brown, which was covered up by a brown cloak.

Netto blinked in surprise as wings popped into existence underneath the cloak and the character's skin showed a faint outline of scales. She could see claw-like fingernails and a long, thin tail as well.

' _What did you do?'_

' _ **I found a section where we can change species and class, so I decided on a half-dragon fighter.'**_

' _What does that do?'_

' _ **We can fly with the wings, and our stats increased. However, we need to gain more experience than usual in order to level up, but I think it's worth it. It also pairs well with the fighter class, with the hand-to-hand melee combat.'**_

' _Oh, I get it.'_ Her finger hovered over the 'confirm' button. _'Are we done?'_

' _ **Yes.'**_

She pressed the button. The mirror passed through her, changing her appearance into the character's.

"Netto-kun!" The girl almost jumped, startled. Her classmates were waiting for her in a clearing surrounded by large trees. She could see their own characters and statuses.

Meiru retained her hair color, but her hair was in a ponytail and extended down to the back of her knees. She wore a long-sleeved peach-colored dress and had white feathered wings. On her back were a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Her status screen described her as an angel ranger.

Dekao was a red-skinned orc barbarian who held axes in both hands. The tallest of the four, he had more muscles than fat. Plate armor covered his body, but his arms were bare.

Yaito was taller than she was in reality, but not by much. As an elf wizard, she was equipped with a staff and donned loose robes. Her ears were pointed, her hair loose and wavy.

"Took you long enough," Yaito sighed, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. "C'mon, let's get going already."

Screens popped up in front of them, with one sentence written on them.

 _Are you ready? Yes/No_

The four looked at each other, nodding. They all pressed the same button. The screens disappeared, and a blinding light shone.

" _Game start!"_

* * *

Saruhige is a mix of saru (monkey) and hige (beard). Basically, it's called the Bearded Monkey Mask. Because I'm bad at making up names and that's what it looked like to me.

Additionally, museum in Japanese is hakubutsukan, so I separated them to create the Hakubu Museum and the Tsukan Museum.

Netto is multilingual, so sometimes she will be confused by uncommon words.

Count Elec is bilingual, I think. He was born in Amerope and traveled to Japan, so he knows Ameropian and Japanese. At least, I think the Electel mansion was in Amerope…

It didn't make much sense for the security walls to fall down where they did in the episode, other than to make Netto the only one trying to do something. So I changed it.

Honestly? I think Roll would have potential as a hacker navi, if only because of the number of times she did something like that in the anime compared to the others. So here she is, doing her thing.

I don't really know why I included the part with Netto and the others playing Maxima's Warrior, but I did want to find out what it was about. It kind of ended up as a mix of Sword Art Online and Dungeons and Dragons. Oh well, it was fun thinking up what characters they would all want to be.

* * *

Some highlights during the editing process:

(About Black Shadow)

kaffinee: Lame name.

Me: Blame the police they're the ones who named them.

kaffinee: Disgusting.

…

(When Yaito arrived)

kaffinee: EW PINK WTF.

Me: Imagine being so rich you can afford to buy a custom limo.

…

(When Forte snickered after mentioning the Black Shadow)

kaffinee: ME TOO.

Me: BLAME THE NET POLICE GDI.

kaffinee: PFFFFFFT.

…

(When it's midnight and the game didn't show up)

kaffinee: HAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAAH get rekt.

Me: GAME FUCKING CANCELLED.

kaffinee: HAHA suckers.

…

(When Forte's talking about Count Elec's laugh)

kaffinee: I can't even hear it but I agree.

Me: And he does it whenever he laughs in this episode. I hate it.

kaffinee: Yikes.

…

(About Dekao being a heavy sleeper)

kaffinee: Hi I'm Dekao.

Me: Yo same.

kaffinee: Twinsies!

…

(About Count Elec)

kaffinee: Really crazy person.

Me: He gets better later on. … Maybe.

kaffinee: Uh huh.

…

(Rockman being wary of Woodman)

kaffinee: Stranger danger.

Me: Stranger danger stranger danger.

kaffinee: Stranger danger stranger danger stranger danger.

…

(About the two mysterious voices)

kaffinee: Oo a date.

Me: I fucking love this pair.

kaffinee: Who.

Me: You'll find out later maybe.

kaffinee: 'Maybe' k.

…

(End dialogue)

kaffinee: Ohhhhhh shit.

Me: Fuck off they ain't gonna get trapped in the game like fucking SAO.

kaffinee: Or are they.

Me: Goddammit.

…

kaffinee: I think I like Meiru as a character hmm.


	11. Substitute

First off, I would like to apologize to kaffinee because I lied to her. I had said that she does not know the speakers of the dialogue-only section. That is not true. She knows one of them, and that's Woodman's operator. She still doesn't know who the other speaker is, but that's fine.

Ai Star: It's alright! You did your best! And the mystery wasn't really supposed to be a mystery; I guess I had accidentally made it too vague. As stated in the paragraph above, one of the speakers is Woodman's operator. The other one was the one who 'saw' scattered data and red eyes. Add in the mention of a commander and some foreshadowing in the Pet chapter, and you'll be able to guess who they are!

Aquila Aqua: Netto's past will be explained, I promise! The date for the visit to Netto's grandpa is set on the day after the Mahajarama and Enzan intro episode, so look forward to that! Enzan will indeed be appearing soon—in a couple chapters, in fact. And for his attitude towards Netto… I'm still trying to work on that. The Forte/Grandpa reveal definitely won't be happening anytime soon, so you're going to have to wait patiently for that.

XxBlueacidxX: Yeah, probably. Something like that. You can't help but guess what someone's saying in another language. Yaito might be trilingual with Japanese, Ameropian and Kinglish. Most of the others are learning Ameropian in school.

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Substitute

Netto yawned loudly, setting down her pencil in order to rub at her eyes. She blinked slowly, trying to refocus on her current work.

' _ **Netto, you need to go to bed,'**_ Forte spoke up as she picked up her pencil, about to throw herself back into her work: a new set of blueprints for a robot cat.

' _I'll…'_ She yawned again. ' _… be fine. Just… need to finish this… 'm almost done, so…'_

' _ **You said that an hour ago. You've been awake for more than twenty-four hours.'**_ It was a miracle that her sleeping habit hadn't kicked in yet, though that might've been because of her determination in finishing the blueprints.

Netto shook her head fiercely, and moved her arm to continue on.

At least, she tried. Her arm refused to move. _'… Lemme finish.'_

' _ **No way. You can't even form coherent thoughts. Bed. Now.'**_

Netto remained stubbornly at her desk.

'… _**If you keep on going, you're going to make a mess and have to start over.'**_

'… _Fine.'_ She stood up, sluggishly made her way over to her bed, and collapsed ungracefully onto it. She sighed in pleasure. _'Ahh… so nice…'_ Closing her eyes, her breath slowed as her consciousness began to fade…

"Netto-kun! Time to get up!" The too-loud voice of Rockman suddenly invaded her brain, and Netto jolted up in surprise, yelping as she slipped and fell off the bed. Rockman stared in bewilderment. "Are you alright?"

Netto groaned, rubbing the shoulder that she had landed on. She felt like she only had five seconds of sleep. "Yeah. Fine. I'm up."

* * *

Meiru pulled the edge of her green hat lower, hoping that it fully covered the complete mess that was her ruined hair. She carefully made her way across the classroom, biting her lip as she headed toward her seat. How could something like this happen to her? She was having such a good day yesterday too!

"Oh! Meiru-chan, good morning!"

Meiru squeaked in surprise, pulling her hat down so it nearly covered her eyes. She looked up.

"What's with the hat?" Dekao asked. "Not that it doesn't look good on you, but you don't usually wear hats…"

"A-ah, i-it _does_ look nice, doesn't it?" Meiru forced a smile, clasping her hands together in an effort to act normal. "It's the latest fashion!"

"Oh, is that it?" Dekao blinked, nodding in acceptance. It was just like Meiru to follow popular fashion, after all. "But isn't it strange to wear a hat in school?"

"Well, there's no rule against wearing hats in school," Meiru answered, backing away to her desk. "It's fine as long as it isn't breaking any rules." With her back turned, she did not notice an approaching classmate until it was too late.

The two bumped into each other and fell to the floor. Meiru spun around, an apology about to spill out, then paused as she caught sight of the one she had collided with. "Netto-kun? What were you doing last night?"

Said girl sat up, one hand rubbing at her left eye. She blinked drowsily up at Meiru, unaware that Meiru's question was caused by the redhead spotting the incredibly dark circles under Netto's eyes.

"Mmh? Oh, _good morning, Meiru_ ," Netto mumbled, yawning.

It was a good thing that Netto had slipped into Ameropian instead of another language, since that was the only language that Meiru learned in Foreign Language class. At least she could understand some of what Netto was saying.

"I was…" Netto continued, yawning again, "… working."

By working, did she mean her robots? Whatever it was, had she worked all night? Maybe even the night before, as well?

"By the way…" Netto paused, gazing at Meiru with unfocused eyes. "Did you cut your hair? It wasn't as long as… when I last saw it."

"Eh?" Meiru's hands flew up to her head, and she felt her stomach drop when she touched her hair instead of the fabric of the hat. "Eehh!?" Meiru looked around wildly for her hat, covering her curled-up hair with her hands. Stupid hair salon with the broken set dryer.

Spotting the hat dangling limply in a flabbergasted Dekao's hands, she snatched it back, glaring at Dekao and blushing fiercely. "What are you looking at!?" Meiru snapped when Dekao's cheeks puffed up in an effort not to laugh.

"Calm down, Meiru-chan," Netto said with a lopsided smile. She gently tugged the green hat away, setting it on Meiru's head. "There. All fixed, right?" She paused, slowly blinking. "Oh, it's upside-down?" she asked no one, taking the hat and placing it back properly. "Like that?" She waited for an unheard reply, then beamed. "Great!" she cheered, skipping to her desk.

And tripped over a chair, crashing loudly onto the floor.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Dekao snickered as Netto got back up, the boy having found the sight hilarious.

Meiru merely went back to her seat, reminding herself that, childhood friend or not, she shouldn't delete Dekao's homework out of spite.

* * *

Meiru sighed, glancing at Netto from the corner of her eyes, thoughtlessly scribbling down some notes about the current lesson.

For almost the entirety of the school day, Meiru had noticed that Netto was mumbling to herself. Most of the words, Meiru couldn't understand due to Netto constantly switching languages. What Meiru _could_ understand only left her more confused. Netto had said once that she didn't play any musical instruments, and that she only had a vague understanding of music terms.

So why was she talking about fortes?

Meanwhile, in the cyber world, Roll had decided to ask Rockman some questions about the state of his operator.

"So you really don't know what Netto-kun was up to?" Roll questioned.

Rockman shook his head dejectedly: "We said goodnight at 10:24, and then I went into sleep mode. She must have gotten back up again after that. But she was in bed this morning when I woke up."

Roll hummed in thought. "Did you ask her?"

"I did, but…" Rockman sighed. "It could have been a result of sleep deprivation, but she didn't seem to hear me."

"Oh." Roll winced, then turned to Glyde. "Glyde, could you ask Yaito-chan if she could get Netto-kun home after school? If Netto-kun wasn't able to hear Rockman, I'm not sure if she could get to her house safely by herself.

Glyde nodded. "I will ask Yaito-sama immediately." He then disappeared in a flash of blue light to his PET.

"So…" Rockman began, glad that they managed to somewhat resolve one problem. "… What happened with Meiru-chan?"

Roll lightly bit her lip, glancing at the screen in front of her—the one that showed Meiru and Netto in the real world. Meiru was studiously taking notes and answering questions, while Netto was staring blankly in front of her, eyes half-lidded and looking like she was about to fall asleep any second.

"… The set dryer in the salon that Meiru visited was broken," she finally said, "The temperature rose and… Meiru's hair became like that."

"The set dryer went out of control, huh?" Rockman murmured, "Maybe it was attacked by viruses? Roll-chan, did you notice anything strange while you were there?"

"No," Roll shook her head, "I was in my PET at the time."

"I see…" If Roll wasn't in the salon's network, then she wouldn't know what the cause was.

Glyde teleported in with a small smile. "Yaito-sama had already noticed Netto-kun's state, and previously made arrangements. As expected of Yaito-sama!"

Rockman suddenly got a chill up his spine. Maybe it was because of how Glyde worded it, or his memories of the methods Yaito usually used to get her way.

Well, he was going to find out after school no matter what.

* * *

As soon as the final bell rang, Yaito dashed over to Netto's desk.

"Hey, Netto-kun. Let's walk home together!" she suggested.

Netto stared blankly through the blonde, seemingly not having noticed her.

"Oi, Netto-kun!" Yaito snapped her fingers in front of Netto's face, catching the brunette's attention this time. "We're going to your house together!"

Netto's brows drew together in confusion. "… Why?"

Yaito rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Because _you_ clearly need sleep, and someone's going to have to make sure you get that, duhh!" She grabbed Netto's hand, tugging the girl out of her seat. "Let's go, let's go!"

Netto barely managed to grab her backpack before she was dragged out of the classroom, her weak protests ignored.

Meiru stared after them, then looked down at Roll's PET. "Is this Yaito-chan's plan?"

Roll shrugged, picking up the sound of tire screeching away from the school. "I guess." Her attention was drawn to Gutsman, who had just arrived. "What is it, Gutsman?"

"Dekao wants to go to Game Soul with Meiru and play some arcade games together, guts!" Gutsman answered excitedly.

Meiru considered it, mind flashing back to when she saw Dekao's poorly hidden laugh when she had lost her hat. "Sure, but Dekao-kun has to pay, since I didn't bring any money." She smirked, remembering a certain game that was perfect as a stress reliever. "And the first game we're playing is Whack-A-Mole."

* * *

Rockman fidgeted, staring at the screen before him.

Yep, Netto was asleep.

Relieved that his operator was able to rest, he began organizing the files in the computer system to make himself useful. Homework stays on the screen, family and friend photos go in separate folders and organized by date, scheduled events are saved onto his calendar…

Rockman skimmed over his calendar, stopping at the date that said 'Visit to Grandpa.' It was supposed to be about two weeks from today, and dangerously close to the N1 Grand Prix that was set to take place in a month. He really wanted to enter the tournament, and he was pretty sure that he met the requirements for entry. He was also certain the Netto would want to participate too.

The problem was how long Netto was going to be away.

Rockman couldn't go with Netto, since her grandpa disliked navis. It was why she didn't have a navi of her own until Rockman. Instead, Rockman would be staying at home and would train for the Grand Prix with Roll and the others.

Dismissing the calendar, Rockman decided to open up a news link.

"About the repeating fire incidents plaguing Akihara Town, the police suspect that WWW is behind this and are continuing their investigation."

" _Nope,_ " Rockman said forcefully, immediately closing out the link, then cast a quick glance at Netto.

She shifted a bit, but did not stir.

Breathing out a relieved sigh, Rockman turned away from the screen.

Repeating fire incidents in Akihara Town, huh? He didn't recall anything like that recently, other than…

"I sure hope Meiru-chan doesn't find out," Rockman muttered. "I'm sure the police can deal with it this time, anyway."

* * *

"You mean it was all Fireman's doing?!" Meiru growled, one hand holding Roll's PET while the other tightened around a wooden hammer.

"Yes, without a doubt!" Roll nodded vigorously, remembering the exact words that Fireman had said to her.

"And so he left that message for you to give to Rockman?" Meiru glared at the pale green text box that took up part of the screen, which detailed the location of where Rockman should go in order to prevent the fire-related incidents that Fireman was causing.

"Yes!"

"I'll never forgive him!" Meiru declared, trembling in anger. _Why_ did she have to be a victim of both of Fireman's schemes? First it was the oven fires—one of which had happened in her own home and could have caused her serious harm—and now this?!

"About Rockman's challenge," Roll interrupted her thoughts, "what should we do, Meiru-chan?"

Meiru smashed the hammer down on one of the pop-up targets of the Whack-A-Mole game, having easily earned a victory against her unlucky opponent, Dekao. "We're going, of course!" She had a few Aqua Towers on her; they would surely be able to defeat Fireman, a _fire-type navi_.

"Great idea!" Roll cheered, extremely supportive at the thought of revenge against the one who had done her operator wrong.

"What he did was unforgivable!" Meiru yelled, hitting every target that popped up with lightning-fast strikes, achieving a new high score in no time at all.

She was too furious at Fireman to hear Dekao nervously inviting himself along, nor did she see Dekao holding up his PET, the navi inside vanishing to find a certain someone for help.

* * *

"Netto-kun, bad news!"

Netto groaned, blearily opening her eyes to stare at Rockman. She was so warm and sleepy…

"Netto-kun!" Rockman repeated. "Roll-chan went to go face Fireman by herself!"

"… And?" Netto mumbled. "Meiru-chan's there, right? They'll be fine."

"We should go just in case!" Rockman protested. "Gutsman's worried and so am I!"

From the corner of the screen, Gutsman nodded in agreement.

' _ **Go get some exercise,'**_ Forte suggested.

' _You're the one who wanted me to sleep earlier.'_ Netto could hardly remember anything that happened today, but she was pretty sure that was one of them.

' _ **Yes, because you were practically dead on your feet. Now that you've had a nap, you might as well do some workouts.'**_

' _Fine.'_

As Netto searched for the strength to get out of bed, Rockman and Gutsman explained the encounter between Gutsman, Roll, and Fireman.

"Well, I don't blame her for taking Rockman's challenge," Netto commented. "If it was me, I definitely would have tried to delete him."

Rockman blanched. "Netto-kun, do you really mean that?"

"Well, yeah. Fireman's an interesting navi, but if it comes down to it, I wouldn't hesitate." Noticing the blue navi's complexion, Netto blinked. "Did I say something wrong?"

' _ **It could have been the deletion part.'**_

' _But it was true? I don't really understand.'_

' _ **I don't, either.'**_

Rockman opened his mouth, about to say something, but then changed his mind. "Anyway, Netto-kun, I'll meet you there."

Netto nodded, taking the PET from the charger. "Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

* * *

"I got my battle chips!" Meiru confirmed, arriving at the garbage dump where Fireman said he would be. Nearing a console, she took out her PET. "Plug in, Roll, transmission!"

"You're finally here, Rockman!" was the first thing Roll heard when she entered the burning and torn-up area that was supposed to be the Densan Town Garbage Dump's network. She gritted her teeth in anger, determined to make Fireman and his operator pay for their crimes. She walked forward, stopping a few feet away from Fireman.

"You're the one from earlier…" Fireman gasped, stunned and clearly not expecting her to show up.

"I'll be your opponent!" Roll said in determination.

"You want to fight me?" he asked disbelievingly.

"That's right!"

Fireman laughed. "That's ridiculous!"

Roll didn't respond to the comment, choosing instead to attack. "Roll Flash!" Her antennae extended and whipped at Fireman, knocking him down.

"That's it, Roll-chan!" Dekao cheered.

"It's not over yet!" Meiru's hands clenched around her PET. "For a girl, her hair is her life! You won't get away with what you've done!"

Dekao inched away from the furious redhead, frightened.

"Heart Slash!" Roll threw the hearts at Fireman, but his form split and disappeared before the attack hit. "Wha…?" Sensing a presence behind her, she slowed turned to see Fireman, who kicked her in the side and knocked her down.

"Logging out and back in?! That's cheating!" Dekao yelled.

Fireman scoffed. "Where's your fighting spirit? Is that really all you have?" he asked, standing over Roll. "Rockman, that fool… sending a shrimp like you to fight me." He pointed his arm at Roll, and she could see an orange glow within the buster. "You'll feel my anger when I take your life!"

"No, Roll-chan!" Meiru cried out. She fumbled with her battle chips and accidentally dropped them to the floor.

A buster shot disrupted Fireman's attack, and both navis looked up to the source in surprise.

"Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!" Roll disappeared, reappearing behind Rockman and Gutsman, who certainly weren't there before. Rockman had his buster arm up, being the one who shot Fireman.

"Rockman…?" Roll whispered in disbelief. Wasn't he supposed to be watching over Netto?

"So you finally came, Rockman!" Fireman crowed. Lowering his arm, he ran forward.

Rockman charged at him, dodging the attacks that Fireman threw at him. He jumped, aiming his buster at the navi. "Rockbuster!"

Fireman neatly avoided each shot, landing back onto the ground with a malicious joy in his eyes. "This fires me up! Let's go!" He slammed his arm to the ground, summoning a pillar of fire that headed for the three navis. "Flame Tower!"

The first Flame Tower was avoided. Meiru took this chance to insert a chip. "Battle chip, Aqua Tower, slot in!"

Roll gracefully spun in a circle, water dancing at her fingertips, and slammed her hand down. "Go!" Water flowed out from under her hand, forming into a pillar. It crashed into the next Flame Tower, and both of them dissolved into harmless data particles. "I did it!"

"If you put it out, all I have to do is fire it up again!" Fireman proceeded to do exactly that, forcing his opponents to dodge the attacks.

"There's no end!" Meiru didn't have many battle chips, and she only had two Aqua Towers—one of which she had already used.

Roll avoided one Flame Tower, then looked up in horror at the second one already heading toward her. Fear locked her limbs in place, rendering her unable to move.

"Roll-chan!" Rockman shoved the pink navi out of the way, causing him to get caught in the attack himself. He fell to the ground limply, his hit points dangerously low.

"Rockman!" Roll cried out in concern, yet she felt relieved that she wasn't the one who took the hit. She wasn't a full fighter-class navi like Rockman and Gutsman, so she had less hit points than them. Though she still had more hit points than Glyde, a hit from a Flame Tower would have put her very close to deletion, if not actually deleted.

"What's wrong?" Fireman sneered. "Is that all you've got?"

Rockman struggled to get up. "The winner… hasn't been determined yet!" He shakily stood up, then collapsed again.

Fireman laughed at the worried shouts of Gutsman and Roll as they ran over to Rockman. "You will all burn!" He slammed both of his arms to the ground this time, and a wave of fire rose up high, threatening to consume his enemies.

"It's coming!" Gutsman panicked, stepping back.

Roll tensed, somewhat regretting her impulsive decision to fight Fireman alone. After all, that had led to the current situation. However, there might still be a way to fix it. "Meiru-chan, transmit the Aqua Tower chip!"

"But… earlier, it didn't…" Not to mention that Fireman could just do the same thing again, and they would no longer have an Aqua Tower to negate the next one.

"Just do it, hurry!" Roll urged. Maybe her plan would work, maybe it wouldn't. Either way, they had to try or be deleted.

"Alright," Meiru said, trusting her navi. She held up her last water-element chip. "Battle chip, Aqua Tower, slot in!"

"What?" Fireman laughed again, knowing that the Aqua Tower was only a short-term solution. "It's too late for you, now burn!"

"Here it comes!" Gutsman screamed as the wall of fire neared.

Roll took a deep breath. "Gutsman, lend me your power!"

He turned around to look at her in confusion.

"Please!" She slammed her hand on the ground, water rising up—rushing straight at Gutsman. "Go, Aqua Tower!"

The stream of water slammed into Gutsman, and he screamed as he was propelled toward the wall of fire. He crashed into and through it, the brief contact only making little impact on his hit points, and smashed right into Fireman.

"Impossible!" Fireman choked out, his emblem damaged from the hit, forcing his operator to plug him out before he was deleted.

* * *

"Meiru?" Netto opened the door that led to a console, spotting the person she was looking for. "There you are!"

The redhead turned to look at her in surprise. "Netto-kun? What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you," Netto answered, logging Rockman out of the console. "Where did Fireman go?"

"He was defeated, thanks to Roll-chan," Rockman said, wincing at his injuries.

"See, Rockman?" Netto grinned. "I told you Meiru would be fine. Meiru- _chan_ , I mean," she corrected herself after realizing that she forgot to add the honorific.

Meiru giggled. "It's fine if you just call me Meiru."

"Really?" Netto beamed. "Does that mean we're allies now?"

"Allies?" Dekao walked over to the two. "Don't you mean friends?"

Netto blinked. "Friends…? Are we?"

Meiru pursed her lips. "How many people have you called your allies?"

"A bunch," she immediately answered.

"They're your friends."

Netto tilted her head slightly in thought. "Ohh…"

"Now that we settled that, Netto—it's okay if I just call you Netto, right?" Meiru asked, and received a nod as a response. "Let's go play at the arcade!"

"Eh?"

* * *

Emblems are like hearts. If the emblem is destroyed, the navi will be deleted.

Netto was mumbling to Forte when Meiru was eavesdropping, in case you didn't know.

After this chapter, I will probably drop some of the honorifics.

Yes, Netto has friends who are not Meiru and the group. Who are they? Not telling yet.

It didn't really make sense to me why Gutsman had to be used as a target. It might be because the water needed a shield to get past the fire wall without the two canceling each other out. It might be because he did practically nothing in previous episodes. Who knows.

Trying out Meiru's POV, because she feels like the easier one to write. And if I kept this all solely Netto's POV, it would have been way too short. Please tell me what you guys think about that.

* * *

Some highlights during the editing process:

("And tripped over a chair, crashing loudly onto the floor.")

kaffinee: um is she high

Me: No, some effects of sleep deprivation include affected hormones or emotional increase, and loss of motor control. Netto's just suffering from sleep deprivation, that's all.

kaffinee: wtf did you google that

Me: Yes.

…

("The set dryer went out of control, huh?" Rockman murmured, "Maybe it was attacked by viruses…)

kaffinee: maybe it was a fucking accident

Me: Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Who knows.

kaffinee: smfh

…

("He [Rockman] shakily stood up, then collapsed again.")

kaffinee: lol he ded

Me: Well not yet.

...

("Netto blinked. "Friends…? Are we?"")

kaffinee: tf aren't they already friends

Me: Well Meiru and the others consider Netto their friends, but Netto didn't really get the memo

kaffinee: dicks

Me: Rude


	12. Hypnotism

Ai Star: Fireman totally deserved it.

Aquila Aqua: Thank you!

AgentChan: Oh, really? I wasn't expecting that my fic would have that much of an influence on you. Though, if you want more Fem!Netto stories, there's 'Cyber Heroine Megamix' by ChibiFoxAI! It's based more on the games, while mine is going by the anime, but it's really interesting! There's a nice mix of Rockman Zero characters in there, too! It was what inspired me to write 'Partner Times Two', so I suggest that you check it out!

duskrider: I don't know much about what junkyards are like, so I was mainly relying on Megamix knowledge. And Forte's reveal is definitely something that I'm looking forward to writing for various reasons!

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Hypnotism

"Shoot, we're going to be late!" Netto yelled as she skated down the road with Meiru, who followed beside Netto on her scooter.

"It's all your fault, Netto!" Meiru scolded. "You were so focused on that new robot of yours that you lost track of time! Again!"

"Sorry, but the deadline was coming up soon!" Netto explained hastily, panting slightly as they sped up a hill, trying to locate Yaito's residence. "If I don't finish it by this week, the contract's canceled!"

' _ **You should have done most of it yesterday instead of putting it off until now.'**_ Netto cringed at Forte's disapproving tone.

"The tournament is in two weeks, and everyone's focusing on it!" Meiru frowned. "You remembered to register, right?"

"Of course I did!" Netto exclaimed.

' _ **You haven't registered for us yet,'**_ Forte reminded her.

' _I'm going to do it today!'_

As they drew near Game Soul, the sounds of swords clashing and the gasping of the audience drew Netto's attention. She slowed to a stop in front of the entrance, attempting to see the fight.

"A net battle?" Meiru wondered, having heard the noises as well.

Netto squinted, trying to watch the net battle. Still unable to see it, she entered the arcade, oblivious to Meiru's worried question about where she was going. Finally able to spot the battle, Netto gasped as she saw the combatants. "That's…!"

It was a standard navi against an auto navi, which wouldn't have drawn such a large crowd if _the operator of the standard navi wasn't so skilled_. The standard navi leaped up, flipping over and spinning. Kicking at the opponent, the navi then landed on the auto navi, jumping away before the auto navi could get a hit in.

"His opponent is level five!" one member of the audience shouted in awe.

A tingling in Netto's right eye informed her that Forte was taking an interest in the battle too. "A standard navi taking on a level five auto-controlled navi…" she murmured as the standard navi fired a Shotgun, forcing the opponent to defend. "I wonder who the operator is…" All she could see was white hair, a red vest, and a hint of blue eyes.

As the auto navi got defeated with a Sword attack, the dome became encased in a bright light, forcing Netto to look away. When the light died down, the operator was gone. She looked around the area, unable to spot them. "Where did that person go?"

"Netto," Meiru said with a blank smile. "Now we're definitely late."

"Eh?" Netto blinked, remembering why the two were in such a hurry. "Shoot, I completely forgot!"

Rockman couldn't help but laugh from within his PET. "Netto-kun, is it alright if Roll-chan and I go on ahead?"

Netto sighed, Meiru already dragging the brunette away from the arcade. "Sure, go ahead."

As the two navis disappeared, Netto and Meiru continued their journey to Yaito's residence.

' _To think that someone could be that skilled… I really want to have a fight with them.'_

' _ **Being able to skillfully use a standard navi is not that special. In battle, a standard navi is a puppet, at best. Very few are capable of independent thought. You should be able to do it as well.'**_

' _No way. I can't operate Rockman like that at all.'_

' _ **You are used to operating**_ **me** _ **.'**_ If Netto was able to see Forte right now, she bet he would be rolling his eyes. _**'My fighting style is different from Rockman's. Not many people are able to operate two navis who have different sets of skills and still churn out a win.'**_

Netto blushed at the indirect compliment, and focused back on the road. "So what were we going to do at the secret base, again?" she couldn't help but ask.

Meiru clicked her tongue, shooting her friend a look. "We're going to watch a program that will help us train for the N1 Grand Prix!"

Netto blinked. "Oh, right. The yoga show that Dekao was talking about." She paused. "How does that help us?"

"There's a specific pose in the program that's supposed to increase our concentration for the tournament," Meiru explained. "Even if it doesn't help, at least we'll still be getting exercise in."

Entering through the front gate, the two made their way to the treehouse, putting away the skates and scooter before climbing up the ladder.

"Sorry for being late!" Netto called out as she opened the door.

Two angry glares greeted her. Yaito screeched, getting up on all fours, and charged at her. Dekao followed, bellowing. Netto quickly closed the door and jumped down onto the grass.

"What's going on?" Meiru asked as the door burst open. She shrieked in surprise, hopping off the treehouse platform. Sprinting away with Netto, she glanced behind her. "What's happening!?"

"I don't know, but Yaito's acting like a cat!" Netto shouted, "And it looks like Dekao's a gorilla or something!"

' _Netto-kun, a net navi caused this!'_ Rockman spoke up through the rarely-used bond. _'Someone named Magicman appeared on TV and hypnotized the two of them with a powerful hypnotism beam!'_

' _What!?'_ Netto almost tripped when she heard that.

Seeing weakness, Dekao and Yaito began to speed up, prompting Netto and Meiru to run even faster.

"Guys, cut it out!" Meiru yelled.

Passing the front gate, the two turned onto the main street, then stopped in surprise.

"W-why is everyone acting like animals?" Netto stammered. "Did they get hit with the hypnotism beam too?" She walked forward, spotting her school teacher in one of the trees. "Look at the way Mariko-sensei's just hanging there and staring at nothing. She's like a sloth!"

Meiru looked around. "And Saloma-san over there is a kangaroo!"

"What about Higure?" Netto asked, enjoying the abrupt guessing game. "He's a cicada, right?"

Pointing up at the sky, Meiru added, "Miyuki-san's gliding like a flying squirrel!" The redhead paused, registering her own words. "How does she _do_ that?"

Netto shrugged. "The same way how all the bat-people can hang upside-down without any support, I guess." She looked down. "Masa's a snake?"

Meiru crouched, observing the wiggling fisherman. "No, he's an eel! That's just like Masa-san to always have something to do with fish no matter what happens!"

Netto stared at her.

"And this is no time to be commenting on that!" the redhead continued hastily. "What should we do?"

' _ **What did Magicman use to hypnotize people?'**_

"What did Magicman use?" Netto repeated out loud, confused. "It was the TV, right?" She blinked. "The TV! If Magicman was using that, then he would be at the television station's computer!"

Meiru opened her mouth to reply back, but was interrupted by Yaito's screech of triumph as she saw the two of them. "I'll distract Yaito-chan and Dekao-kun! There should be a port in that restaurant, so use that!" Then she dashed off, yelling at Yaito and Dekao to draw their attention, and ran into the supermarket.

There wasn't much else Netto could do, so she followed Meiru's suggestion. Entering the restaurant, she noticed a port on the cash register, and decided to use it. "Plug in, Rockman, transmission!" Shoving the PET back into its holster, she sighed. "I'll hurry to the television station too, I guess." Walking toward the restaurant door, she suddenly stopped as the feeling of _danger_ crawled up her spine. She spun around.

"Of course there has to be wolves," she muttered, spotting the growling people under the tables.

Hungry wolves too, from the looks of it. And the only 'prey' around was…

Netto cursed quietly, slowly backing away toward the door. "Cannibalism is hopefully not something anyone would enjoy. Please don't give me a reason to use my ray gun." Her back touched the glass door, and she fumbled around for the doorknob.

One of the wolf-people leaped at her, and she dodged to the side, unable to open the door in time. She gritted her teeth, realizing that she was surrounded.

"Oh, for the love of Serenade," she mumbled, "what do I do now?"

' _ **Use the ray gun?'**_

' _I would rather not kill any humans, thank you.'_

The door slammed open, and Dekao and Yaito ran inside. The two fought the wolf-people, chasing them out of the restaurant.

Netto gaped, blinking in surprise. "Dekao? Yaito?"

Said people grinned at her, still acting like the animals they had been hypnotized to imitate.

"Netto!" Meiru exclaimed, entering the restaurant. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"Uh, Meiru…" Netto pointed at Yaito and Dekao. "What's with them?"

"Ah, them?" Meiru giggled. "Look at this." Walking toward the two, she handed Yaito fish and Dekao a banana. "If we give them food they like, they'll remember our strong friendship!"

' _Is that… really friendship?'_

' _ **Whatever gets them to cooperate.'**_

Netto stiffened as she heard growling, and spotted a wolf-person peeking out from behind the decorative bushes. They howled, and more wolf-people started down the stairs, growling in response.

"They're calling for reinforcements!" she realized, moving so that she was standing protectively in front of Meiru.

Dekao noticed their predicament and turned around. He gestured at the door, hollering incoherently.

"Dekao just said, 'Hurry along to the television station, leave these guys to us!'" Meiru translated.

The wolf-people charged, howling in unison.

"Let's go, then! We have to help Rockman!" Netto inched away, watching as Dekao and Yaito engaged the wolf-people in battle.

"Right!" The two ran out of the restaurant, Meiru leaving behind a hurried "Thank you!" to the hypnotized friends.

As they entered the television station, Netto noticed with relief that no one was inside. That meant that they were able to wander the place freely. Finding a brightly lit area, she gestured for Meiru to come inside. Shutting the door, she plugged Rockman's PET into a console.

' _ **Is Rockman already about to be deleted by viruses?'**_

' _Hey, I'm trying not to let that happen.'_ "Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!"

Just in time, Rockman vanished before the dozens of viruses could attack him.

"He warped!?" A wizard-styled navi—most likely Magicman, since he was the only one in the immediate area—said in disbelief. He looked around frantically. "Where is he!? Where is Rockman hiding!?"

' _I can't believe how many people don't bother to look up when they're searching for something.'_

' _ **If they don't bother, then we're free to use it to our advantage.'**_

"Sorry I'm late, Rockman," Netto mumbled quietly.

Rockman shook his head, a relieved smile on his face. _'Thank you for saving me!'_

"Now that Magicman has lost track of you, let's strike back!" She grinned.

"You think you can?"

Netto jumped at the sudden voice and glanced around. "Who's there?!" She stepped toward the window, staring through it to the dark studio.

Meiru reach over to the controls, flipping on the lights, and the two saw a pile of chairs stacked messily on top of one another. And at the top, in a strange pose, was…

"Who's that?" Netto asked, pointing at the man.

"He's Mahajarama-san!" Meiru gasped in surprise, "You know, the host of the program we were going to watch?"

"Huh," Netto blinked. "Is he Magicman's operator?"

"Indeed, I am," Mahajarama confirmed. "And we are invincible!"

"We'll see about that!" Netto pulled out all of her battle chips, pausing when she saw the miniscule amount. "… Why do I only have three battle chips?"

' _ **You were late,'**_ Forte reminded her, exasperated. _**'You left most of them at home. How did you not notice when you used Area Steal?'**_

' _I… have no idea,'_ Netto admitted sheepishly. _'Wide Sword, Mini-Bomb, and Barrier. I guess it's time for an all-or-nothing attack again.'_

' _ **Again.'**_

' _I'll definitely be more prepared next time, I promise!'_ She turned her attention back to Rockman's PET. "Battle chip, Mini-Bomb, slot in!"

A blue ball appeared in Rockman's hand, and he threw it at Magicman. It exploded on contact, and the wizard-like navi got covered in gray smoke.

"What?!" Magicman cried out, unable to see past the smoke.

"Battle chip, Wide Sword, slot in!" As Rockman's right arm transformed into the familiar weapon, he swung down at the center of the smoky area, where Magicman should be. It sliced through, cutting deeper—

—and was abruptly stopped when Magicman used both of his arms to keep the blade away from his body.

"Why can't Mini-Bomb smokescreens ever work!?" Netto shouted in frustration.

"Amazing…" Magicman began. "You're the only person to ever come this close to me!"

' _ **What kind of weaklings did he battle?'**_

' _I'm kind of busy here, you know.'_

' _ **I'm sure you are. Carry on.'**_

"It won't move an inch!" Rockman grunted, trying to get past Magicman's defenses.

"Use your Rockbuster!" Netto suggested.

"What? But—"

"You can use Rockbuster with both arms!" she argued. "Recoil doesn't matter if you're only going for one shot!"

"Now it ends," Magicman stated, and laughed as the red jewel on his head flashed and emitted an energy beam, sending Rockman and his now-broken sword flying away in pain.

"Rockman!" Netto yelled in panic, ignoring the faint needle-like feeling she received from the link.

"I'll finish you with my most powerful attack!" Magicman directed his arm at Rockman, a stream of blue pixels blasting toward the blue navi.

"Battle chip, Barrier, slot in!" the brunette exclaimed hastily, hoping that the pale shield wouldn't fail her.

"It's useless!" Magicman said smugly, "That weak barrier is nothing before my Magic Fire!"

A stream of expletives flowed out from Netto, all in different languages. Some mixed together, becoming even more incomprehensive that they already are.

Forte poorly muffled a laugh when he heard her. Meiru just looked confused.

Just as the Magic Fire struck the barrier, the attack was cut off with a gleaming red sword.

Netto blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Yep, the Magic Fire was literally cut into pieces. Rockman wasn't deleted.

"Impossible!" Magicman gasped. "My Magic Fire just got intercepted!" He dropped his guard in surprise, and the remnants of his attack struck the wizard-like navi, burning him. "I-I'll remember this!" he promised as he was forced to log out.

' _ **Do not break the window.'**_

Netto paused in her search for a good chair to throw. _'… I wasn't going to.'_

' _ **Liar.'**_

Netto huffed, choosing instead to use the door that led to the studio. "Mahajarama!"

Magicman's operator looked up from his PET, still in the same pose that he was in before.

Netto blanked, forgetting what she had wanted to say. "… So how did you managed to keep the chairs from falling while you're on them? How did you even get up there?"

Meiru sighed at her friend's lack of focus and glared at Mahajarama. "Turn everyone back to normal, right now!"

He chuckled. "Sure, why not? In any case, my strategy did not succeed. I'll return everyone to their original state." He stepped backward, disappearing.

"Whoa, Meiru!" Netto exclaimed in excitement, pointing at where Mahajarama had been as the pile of chairs collapsed. "Did you see that? That's amazing! How did he do that?"

Meiru hesitantly shrugged.

"Rumors are so unreliable, aren't they?"

The two girls turned to the unfamiliar speaker. "Oh, you were at the game center!" Netto recognized.

"I wanted to see the famous net battler everyone's been talking about." The boy smirked. "Although I never thought I'd end up saving her navi."

"Then your navi was the one who saved Rockman?" Netto asked, looking down at Rockman's PET.

The first and most important thing she noticed was that the navi had long, silvery, realistic-looking hair—completely unlike Roll's. An accessory like that was usually unnecessary, but quite expensive. The second was that the navi's eyes weren't visible because of a visor, which wasn't very common. Was there something peculiar about the navi's eyes?

"Who are you?" she asked the boy as Rockman and the navi conversed briefly.

"Ijuuin Enzan," he stated.

"Enzan!?" Meiru gasped.

"Ijuuin!?" Netto said at the same time.

The two girls glanced at each other.

"The president of IPC was an Ijuuin," Netto elaborated. "And I heard that his son was the vice-president. That company has branches in Amerope, so that's where I heard it."

"Higure-san talked about you," Meiru told Enzan. "You're the legendary prodigy net battler that's had over five hundred victories!"

Enzan turned around, about to leave, but then stopped. "Hikari Netto, being a champion of justice is fine and all, but do you really intend to appear at that tournament with that kind of skill?" He looked at her, as if he was daring her to do exactly that. "You better not disappoint me or Blues!" With that, he left.

' _ **Rude,'**_ Forte snarled.

"Well, he's certainly strong." Netto grinned. "Much, much stronger than WWW." She paused. "Do people really talk about me like that? Like I'm a champion of justice? I'd much rather be the vigilante. Meiru, what do you think?"

Meiru set a hand on Netto's shoulder, guiding her out of the television station. "I think you can be whatever you want, but we should go check to see if Mahajarama-san kept his word first."

"Oh, yeah, we should," Netto agreed.

* * *

Higure whistled happily as he carefully cleaned a battle chip he had collected. Tilting it this way and that to check for scratches, he nearly didn't notice the new customer entering Higureya.

"W-welcome!" he stammered. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he noticed that it was much too early for most people to be awake.

"I would like to register for the N1 Grand Prix," the customer stated, their head tilted down so that the blue hat they wore hid their face.

"Ah, right away!" Hastily booting up his computer, Higure opened up a tournament submission form. "Your name, please."

The customer paused for a second. "Ace," they decided.

"No last name?" It wasn't required, but still recommended.

"None."

Higure didn't push the issue. "Your navi?"

Ace quietly debated with themself, then nodded. "Forte."

* * *

Rockman sped through the activated link, landing on his feet as he arrived at the secret base's network.

Roll looked over to him and waved. "Rockman, you're here!" she greeted. "We were just about to train for the tournament."

From the screen beside the pink navi, Meiru sighed. "Is Netto late again?"

"Huh?" Rockman blinked. "No, she's not coming."

"What!?" Dekao shouted. "Didn't she know we're going to be training for the Grand Prix every day!?"

Confused, Rockman answered, "Didn't she tell you?"

"Tell us what?" Yaito asked.

"She's out of town visiting her grandpa. She won't be back until next week." He looked up to an array of stunned faces. Instinct had him covering his ears.

" _WHAT!?_ "

* * *

Netto suddenly sneezed, then sniffled, rubbing her nose. "It's colder than I thought up here."

"We're up in the mountains," Forte retorted, his PET gripped tightly in her hand. "And it's wintertime, too. How cold did you think it would be?"

Netto pouted, trekking past trees and shrubbery. She soon stopped at the shore of a lake, the one that always had cold, clear water that she loved swimming in. She doubted that she would be able to do that during the duration of her stay, however.

Walking around the lake, Netto arrived at the side of the skull-like structure that was her childhood home, Spotting a single port hidden in a depression on the wall, she held up Forte's PET. "Plug in, Forte, transmission!" Returning the PET to its holster, Netto patiently waited for Forte to unlock the door.

With a rumble, a section of the wall rose up, and Netto stepped inside. As the wall closed back down, she blinked a few times for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting and then continued down the hallway.

Entering a large, wide area, she brightened at the sight of Grandpa standing on the steps.

"I'm back, Grandpa!" she called out excitedly, running up the steps to hug him briefly.

"Welcome back," Grandpa said, then stepped back.

Netto barely had time to wonder why before she was tackled and knocked to the ground.

"Welcome back, Big Sis!" her attacker cheered, his short arms not quite managing to reach all the way around her waist. "I missed you a lot!"

"Allegro!" Netto laughed, sitting up. "I missed you too!"

The robot lifted his head up, looking around. "Where's Big Bro? I don't see him anywhere."

"I'm right here." The screen on the wall flickered to life, and Forte showed himself, smiling. "Hello, Allegro. It's been a while."

"Mmhmm!" Allegro nodded.

Grandpa coughed, the sharp sound of the tip of his cane hitting the ground drawing the others' attention. "Allegro, don't you have something to give to Netto?"

Allegro gasped. "Right!" He held out a small jewelry box. "Big Sis, Gramps helped me make this for you!"

Netto took the box, opening it to see a pendant in the shape of Forte's navi emblem. "Thank you, Allegro! It's beautiful!" She held it up to the light, admiring the shine of the colored metals, then put it on, letting the emblem dangle over her shirt. "Oh, Grandpa, I got you something too!" From her backpack, she pulled out several small pouches. "A bunch of Sharoian metal!"

Grandpa smiled. "Why don't you go put that in the laboratory, and play with Allegro for a bit? I have something I need to discuss with Forte."

Netto glanced at Forte, and received a reassuring nod. "Okay! Come on, Allegro. I got some presents for you, too!"

The teenager and robot walked out, chatting with each other about their achievements.

Forte 'placed' a temporary block over his link with Netto, his face now devoid of emotion. "There's a tracking device embedded in that necklace, isn't there?"

"I'm rather surprised you picked up on it," the human chuckled. "The signal is supposed to be nearly undetectable."

Forte snorted. "Have you forgotten my abilities? It was _nearly_ undetectable. However, it still gave off a faint scent; one I would have passed off as a glitch in the network had I not known better." His eyes narrowed. "You know that Netto now lives with the Hikaris."

"And you have just confirmed that for me," the old man said. "It is simply nothing more than a precaution. Allegro really wanted to make that necklace for her, so I merely took the opportunity. By the way, inform her that she has some data to obtain for me. I have some idiots to discipline while she is away."

Forte frowned, already guessing as to who the 'idiots' might be. He nodded, about to head to where Netto and Allegro are.

"We'll be done in a few hours. Goodbye for now, Wily."

* * *

Congratulations, the grandpa's identity is finally revealed!

I quite liked Allegro, or Gospel Number Two, as I called him. So I decided to include him as Netto's 'younger brother' since that was what Forte called him in the anime. He was one of Netto's first creations.

Netto trying to break windows with something might be a running gag.

Forte definitely knows more than he lets on to Netto.

The necklace is my version of Forte's emblem: a gold outer rim and a black inner circle. There's the saffron forte music symbol on the circle, but not quite touching the rim. Instead of the small cross on the f, there's a large slash mark that extends a bit beyond the rim on both ends. The emblem itself has a diameter of five centimeters, and a general thickness of two centimeters, though it thins to a single edge on the rim.

Allegro is very proud of his creation. We shall not mention how many tries it took for him to get the emblem exactly how he wanted it to look.

* * *

Editing highlights:

("Now we're definitely late." –Meiru)

kaffinee: goddammit

Me: Yup

kaffinee: GODDAMMIT

Me: Thanks Netto.

kaffinee: smh

…

("… hypnotized the two of them with a powerful hypnotism beam!")

kaffinee: wow cheaters. the protagonist is supposed to figure that out herself

Me: Yeah well screw that gotta move the plot along

kaffinee: gross

…

("I'm sure you are. Carry on." –Forte)

kaffinee: sassy

Me: Thank u Forte for giving us the sass

kaffinee: gracias amigo

…

("I-I'll remember this!" –Magicman)

kaffinee: that's what everyone says…

Me: Admit it Magicman you're never gonna win

…

("Netto suddenly sneezed, then sniffled, rubbing her nose. 'It's colder than I thought up here.'")

kaffinee: mhm someone's talking about youu

Me: Shh Netto doesn't know that

…

("Goodbye for now, Wily." –Forte)

Me: Hey yo guess what he's the Big Bad for the season haha

kaffinee: dafaq


	13. Worth

The funny thing about Fireman calling Roll a shrimp is that she's the same height as Rockman. Or he could be commenting on her antennae. Either one works.

Aliesterus: There really was no way I could make the grandpa be too mysterious, since I could probably count the number of old people with names in Rockman EXE on one hand.

Duskrider: Haha, thank you!

Ai Star: And now it's easy to realize why Netto is skilled in robotics. Oh, Forte's definitely protective of Netto, it's just that he often doesn't tell her things that aren't necessary for her to know. Even if he told her that the necklace has a tracking device on it, she's not going to throw it away. So he doesn't tell her. Forte's not using Netto, but if you're wondering if Wily's using her… well, you'll find out eventually.

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Worth

Netto blinked groggily, weary from spending the entire day either doing errands for Wily or working on her projects. Rubbing her eyes, she tried her best to pay attention to whatever her foster grandfather was saying.

"—you do it?" he finished, waiting for an answer.

'… _What did he say?'_

' _ **Something about joining his organization,'**_ Forte replied with disinterest. _**'It's going to be full of weaklings, anyway, so it's up to you whether you want to join.'**_

' _Oh…'_ Netto stifled a yawn, then nodded. "Sure, I'll do it."

"Very well." Wily looked pleased. "The next meeting is tomorrow morning. Get some rest before then."

"Okay… 'night, Grandpa." Netto yawned, leaving through the nearest door and heading for her room.

Flopping down onto her bed and half-listening to Allegro playing games on Netto's computer, she was just about to fall asleep when she suddenly thought of something: _'Hey, Foru?'_

' _ **Hmm?'**_

' _What's Grandpa's organization called?'_

' _ **Oh, that?**_ Forte sounded bored at the mention of the group. _**'It's WWW.'**_

' _Okay.'_

* * *

"Forte?" Netto began as she changed clothes the next day: long black pants and sneakers, as well as a purple hoodie and a pair of fingerless gloves that she had found, which happened to still fit her.

"What?" The navi watched as Netto put on her favorite blue baseball hat, the bandana with the Hikari emblem having been carefully tucked away in her backpack ever since she had left Akihara Town.

"Last night I had a dream that I joined WWW." Saying goodbye to Allegro, who was drawing on a piece of paper, Netto closed her bedroom door.

"That wasn't a dream," Forte deadpanned. "You were officially part of WWW as of yesterday."

"Oh." Netto stopped in the middle of the hallway. "So Grandpa's the leader of WWW?"

"Yes."

"Huh." She tilted her head. "That's a lot less surprising than I thought it would be."

"Because you've heard it before?" Forte raised an eyebrow.

"No, I don't think that's why." Netto continued walking. "Maybe it's because of all the missions that he gave us."

"Yes, that _could_ be it," the navi agreed.

Netto frowned, a question popping up in her mind: "How come you aren't surprised? It's kind of like you already knew who Grandpa is."

"I had my suspicions." Forte shrugged. "He's the only one I know who's crazy enough to lead WWW."

"Don't call Grandpa crazy." Netto pouted, turning a corner to the area where the meeting should be, and—oh, should she really go there?

' _ **If WWW fails as often as we've seen so far, he has very good reason to berate them like that.'**_

Netto watched from the shadow of the doorway as Wily paused in his tirade. He took a deep breath, then happened to notice her.

He smirked. "Oh, good—you've arrived. Come over here."

Almost timidly, Netto stepped forward, walking toward the elder. Stopping a few feet away from him, she took a look at the other WWW members.

'… _Why are there only four other people besides me and Grandpa?'_

' _ **If that's all the members available, no wonder the old man decided to recruit us.'**_ Forte glanced at each of the members, noticing the emblems on their clothes. _**'That woman must be Coloredman's operator.'**_

' _Didn't I see her that time when Coloredman hijacked the traffic lights?'_

"What's a kid doing here?" the red-haired man—who must've been Fireman's operator, since he was the only one she hasn't recognized—questioned. "What can she even do?"

Wily slammed the tip of his cane against the floor, effectively putting a stop to any side conversations. "Tell me; have any of you brainless fools heard of the Black Shadow?"

"Black Shadow?" the pink-haired woman repeated. "Sounds like a tasteless name, if you ask me."

' _Not my fault the Net Police are absolutely terrible with names.'_

Forte snickered.

Mahajarama frowned thoughtfully, regarding Netto with suspicion. "The Black Shadow is an infamous criminal who's been active for over five years. Their last hit was about two weeks ago, at Rensan Museum." His eyes… narrowed? Netto couldn't really tell, since his eyes seem to be constantly closed. "You mean to tell us that that child is the Black Shadow?"

Netto briefly glanced at Wily, exhaling softly in nervousness when she received a small nod. "Yep, that's me!" She grinned widely. "Officially part of WWW as of yesterday! Nice to meet you all!"

' _ **Can you stop with the mental screaming? I'm going to get a headache.'**_

' _But navis can't get headaches?'_

' _ **Your point being?'**_

Netto did her best to tone down the screaming.

"Kid, you know that names are supposed to go along with the introduction, right?" Coloredman's operator asked sarcastically. "I don't like the idea of constantly calling a fellow WWW member 'kid' or 'Black Shadow'."

Netto chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, right. I'm—"

' _ **Let's fight first. I want to compare their strength with mine.'**_

She raised her PET up and looked at Forte. He stared steadily back. "Okay, change of plans." She shrugged. "Face me in a netbattle first, and then I'll tell you my name."

"Why you little—" Count Elec began, but was interrupted by Mahajarama.

"Very well." The Namastean man took a step forward. "I'll go first, then."

Netto frowned. While she doubted that the fight would take long, having to face all four navis one at a time sounded tedious and boring. "How about a four-on-one battle?" she suggested. "Your navis versus mine." She looked over to Wily for confirmation.

"That would balance the scales slightly," he agreed.

Netto wasn't sure if the other WWW members would be able to work well together, but at least it would be more of a challenge. Or not, if none of them knew the concept of teamwork. "How about I don't use any battle chips and abilities? I'll even give you guys a three-second head start." _'Full Synchro?'_

Forte nodded, smirking. _**'Full Synchro.'**_

"Overconfidence will be your downfall," Fireman's operator declared angrily, PET out.

Wily pressed a button on his cane, causing a part of the floor to open itself up. A netbattle table rose from the gap, stopping with a loud thud once it had ascended to its full height.

The five operators walked toward the table, arranging themselves in a way so that Netto was on one side while the other WWW members were on the other side.

"Full Synchro," Netto and Forte whispered in unison under their breaths, feeling the familiar sensation of their minds merging together—but not too much that they were unable to distinguish themselves from each other.

"What was that?" Count Elec asked, unable to make out the phrase. "A plea for forgiveness?"

"As if," they scoffed. "Let's get this over with already. Plug in, Forte, transmission!"

The others followed suit. "Plug in, Fireman, transmission!"

"Plug in, Elecman, transmission!"

"Plug in, Coloredman, transmission!"

"Plug in, Magicman, transmission!"

As the five navis appeared in the server, Coloredman's operator took one look at Forte and laughed. "Really? _That_ shorty's your navi? This will be easy!"

"You weaklings have a head start, remember?" Netto and Forte grinned. "Hit us with your best shot!"

 _Three._

Magicman began summoning Biri viruses, which all began to march steadily toward Forte. Likewise, Coloredman summoned two clones that were slightly smaller than him, but had pink hair and polka-dots instead. Fireman pointed his arms at Forte, fire flickering along the busters as they charged up into a powerful attack. Elecman raised his arms up, uttering a battle cry as electricity began forming between his hands.

 _Two._

Forte remained motionless, calmly watching as the Biri viruses slowly closed in on them. One of the Coloredman clones began attacking with an Aqua Tower, while the other did the same with a Fire Tower. Fireman and Elecman let loose their charged attacks, and Magicman brought forth his Magic Fire.

 _One._

Fireman's attack flew straight into the Aqua Tower, the two canceling each other out. He turned toward Coloredman, and Forte and Netto could tell that an argument was about to start. The tip of the Biri viruses' lance-like arms crackled with electricity, which streamed toward the cloaked navi.

' _How kind of Magicman to give us a meal.'_

' _ **Not very filling, but it'll do.'**_

 _Zero._

As the attacks reached their destination, Forte quickly dodged most of them, charging at the Biri viruses and ignoring the gashes that appeared on his body. With their bare hands, the Full Synchroed navi tore the viruses apart into scrap data, absorbing the leftovers into their body. With a great leap, they closed the distance between Elecman and themselves, plunging their right hand into his torso and forcing a logout.

A crouch to the ground at Magicman's next attack, and the two picked the wizard-like navi as their next target. They dashed right up to him, giving him no chance to summon more viruses or to use his Magic Fire, and struck his abnormally thin waist, breaking the navi into two pieces.

Two down, two to go.

' _Gotta remember to not delete them.'_

' _ **Right.'**_

Diving forward, they managed to evade the ball that was flying toward them, but the Fire Tower that followed grazed their arm.

' _ **Fireman or Coloredman?'**_ The two gazed at the remaining navis, wondering which one would be easier to defeat.

' _Clones first. I wonder if Coloredman can freely respawn that ball of his like you can with your cloak.'_

They grinned. _**'Let's find out.'**_

As they sprinted toward Coloredman, the clown navi's clones moved to stand in front of him as a shield. Perfect. A brief mental conversation with each other, and then Forte headed to the clone on their right, ruthlessly tearing apart its arms and destroying it. As they were about to attack the remaining clone, Netto's sudden alarm alerted Forte to Fireman's incoming attack, which they barely managed to avoid.

' _They knew they had underestimated us before.'_

' _ **A tactic change is not going to grant them victory.'**_

' _We need to finish this quickly before they actually manage to cooperate with each other.'_

Looking down, they idly observed the platform they were on.

' _Think Grandpa will get mad if we tear up the server?'_

' _ **We're here to prove a point, not to keep that old man happy.'**_

With that, Forte tore off a piece of the platform, throwing it in the direction of their opponents. And another, and another, sending data-dust up from the collisions. Taking advantage of the makeshift smokescreen, they took off their cloak, dashing forward as they threw it up into the air. Like they had hoped, Coloredman and Fireman mistook that for Forte, attacking the cloth as Forte headed toward Coloredman, the closest navi, and quickly defeated him. As a result, the remaining clone disappeared.

Fireman was the last one, so the two walked slowly toward the now-paranoid navi, their footsteps echoing loudly and their form hidden by the dust. Arm shifting into a standard buster, they stopped, took aim, and fired.

 _Log out._

The two exhaled in unison, slipping out of Full Synchro. Netto blinked, feeling a dull throbbing on her arms and legs, then looked down at her right sleeve, where a dark spot was slowly forming. She tugged the sleeve lightly, keeping the cloth off the injury before the blood solidified and stuck to it. "Grandpa, can I go now? My clothes got dirty."

Wily nodded, so she plugged Forte out, beaming at their victory.

"Wait…" Fireman's operator gaped. "Did you just call Wily-sama 'Grandpa'?"

Netto blinked in surprise. "Oh, right. I promised to introduce myself after the battle." She swept into a theatrical bow, all precious nervousness having disappeared due to the victory high. "I'm Wily Netto, but you can just call me Netto. I hope we get along!" She turned around and walked off to her room, not noticing the WWW members' shocked looks, nor did she notice Wily returning to his rant about the uselessness of the members.

Forte, however, did.

* * *

"I don't want you to goooo!" Allegro cried, clutching onto Netto as if she was going to disappear on him.

Which wasn't actually that far off the mark.

"But Allegro," Netto tried, "my vacation is over and I need to go back to where I was before." Not to mention that she had left Rockman back with her birth family, and they needed to train together before the N1 Grand Prix. "I'll be here again as soon as I have time."

"Noooo!" the robot whined.

She sighed, crouching down to gently pry his arms off her. "I promise I'll be back, okay? Would Big Sis ever break an important promise?"

Slowly, Allegro shook his head.

Netto smiled, tapping the robot on the head. "See? I made an important promise, didn't I?"

Allegro made a sniffling sound. "Yes, you did… Hurry back, okay?"

Netto nodded, hugging him. "I will!" Standing up, she waved goodbye, and then left her room.

"Netto."

The girl blinked, stopping on her way to the exit, and looked over to Wily. "What is it, Grandpa?"

"Do not forget your mission."

"At the N1 Grand Prix, search for navis who might contain the Ultimate Program," she recited, grinning. "Of course I won't forget!"

"Netto-sama!" Madoi—Coloredman's operator—shouted as she ran in, followed by Count Elec, Hino Ken, and Mahajarama. "We look forward to seeing you at the tournament!"

"Me too—Do your best out there!" Netto agreed cheerfully—though she was sure that both Rockman and Forte would be able to defeat them even with the brief training that Forte would give them when Netto wasn't busy.

"Yes!"

' _ **How touching.'**_

' _Forte, can you not ruin the moment?'_

* * *

"Mama, I'm back!" Netto said as she entered the Hikari home, back in her white shirt and orange vest, her bandana once again tied around her head.

"Welcome back, Netto!" Haruka greeted. "What good timing; I was just about to cook lunch!"

"Really?" Netto ran into the kitchen, peering at the ingredients out on the counter. "What are you making?"

"It's a secret." The woman smiled, shooing Netto out. "You'll find out once I'm done."

"Oh, okay." Netto prodded at her mental link with Rockman, discovering that he wasn't in the house. "Where did Rockman go?"

"He's at Yaito-chan's house, training for the N1 Grand Prix," Haruka answered. "Could you go and get him?"

She nodded. "Sure, I'll go right now." She turned around, getting her shoes and opening the front door. "I'll be back soon!"

"Come back safely!" Haruka called out as Netto left.

' _Yaito's house, huh? I wonder if Meiru and Dekao are there too.'_

' _ **It's more than likely that they will.'**_

Passing the gate, she skated along the 'safe path' that led to the secret base. After climbing up the ladder, Netto knocked on the door, then waited for it to automatically open. Once it did, she peeked inside, spotting Meiru, Dekao, and Yaito focused on the screen where Rockman, Roll, and Gutsman were fighting dozens of practice navis.

Netto waited until all of the practice navis were defeated before she began to speak. 'Hey, Rockman. Mama wants you home for lunch."

The navi blinked, deactivating his buster. "Oh, is it that time already? I should get going, then. Thanks, Netto-kun."

She nodded and smiled, closing the door. Walking to the edge of the platform to hop off, she was startled by the sudden loud shouts from inside the secret base.

The door slammed open and Netto turned to it, seeing three pissed-off teenagers. _'Did I do something wrong?'_

' _ **It doesn't hurt to ask.'**_

"So, uh…" Netto tried, "Why do you guys look so mad?"

"What do you think!?" Dekao yelled. "First you don't tell us that you're leaving for a week, then you suddenly show up again without any warning just to get Rockman? You didn't even greet us or anything!"

Surprised by the outburst, Netto instinctively took a step back…

' _ **Wait, Net, don't—"**_

… And began to fall backward, having completely forgotten where on the platform she was at.

Meiru's look of outrage quickly changed to shock, and she ran forward, reaching out to grab Netto's hand.

She missed.

Forte quickly took action, a brief memory of a move they had done during training flashing through their link. Entering a pseudo Full Synchro, Netto landed a handstand, elbows bent slightly, and pushed away from the grass to come down on one knee, arms out to the side for balance.

There was a moment of silence as Forte's presence slipped away to the back of Netto's mind. Then she winced. "Ow, my wrists!"

From above her, there were sighs of relief. "Netto, come up here so we can have a practice match!" Meiru suggested. "We'll be quick, and I'm sure that Dekao-kun won't try to startle you again." She nudged at the boy.

"Yeah, check out how powerful Gutsman is now!" Dekao agreed.

Netto _did_ want to find out what events had occurred during her absence. She nodded. "Sure! But only for a little while." She stood up, then stifled a hiss of pain at a sharp sting from her side. ' _I think I reopened something.'_

' _ **Is it bleeding?'**_

Discreetly, she felt the bandages under her shirt. _'No, not yet.'_ She walked forward, climbing up the ladder again.

' _ **You should be fine for the practice match, but we'll need to check on it once you go back for lunch.'**_

' _Got it.'_

* * *

The day of the N1 Grand Prix, Netto woke up early. She lifted her head up sleepily, squinting down at the surface of the… "Why am I at my desk instead of in the bed?"

Rockman chuckled awkwardly. "You were trying to figure out strategies with all the battle chips you had and stayed up too late. I tried to wake you, but you were sound asleep."

"Oh." She yawned, stretching her arms. "That makes sense." Picking up the battle chips on the desk and shoving them into her pocket, she stood. "I'm going to wash up. Be back in a bit."

Several minutes later, she was sitting at the dining table, hurriedly chowing down on the breakfast that her mother had cooked.

"There's no need to rush." Haruka smiled, finishing her own meal at a much slower pace. "The Grand Prix won't start until ten."

"But there might be heavy traffic," Netto pointed out, taking a quick glance at the clock. It was almost eight. Her gaze slid to the framed family photo on the counter, a photo that was taken during her first trip to the amusement park. "Where's Papa now?"

"He said he's researching on the mountains of Aralata," Haruka answered cheerfully. The doorbell rang just then, and both family members turned their heads to the door. "Who could that be, so early in the morning?"

"I'll go get it!" Netto set down her empty bowl and stood up. _'Forte, you awake now?'_

The ringing sped up. The person who was doing it must've been pretty frantic. _**'…?'**_

Netto pressed the answering button, and the screen next to it booted up to show a disheveled-looking Higure. "Ne-Ne-Ne-Netto-kun!" the shop owner shouted in relief.

"Higure?" Netto questioned, recalling a rumor that Dekao had told her about how Higureya was closed so that the chip otaku could give Numberman an upgrade. "What's going on?"

"Help me! I need your help!" he exclaimed hurriedly. "Numberman's in trouble!"

' _ **This is not what I wanted to wake up to.'**_

' _Well you woke up to it anyway, so too bad.'_

* * *

To be clear, Netto, as she is now, won't actively go against someone unless they did something to the people she cares about, like Haruka and Meiru during the first Fireman incident, Mariko-sensei's bag being stolen during the Pet chapter, or trying to steal the video game that Meiru and the others were looking forward to playing. If someone who's not in that group gets into an incident, she will likely not go to assist them, unless the outcome would be favorable to her. Consider this a result of being raised by Wily.

While Wily taught her to steal and only to help those that she cares for, or whose situation would benefit her in the end, Forte taught her to be honorable. She would never break promises or agreements unless something happens that's not within her power to prevent. She had agreed to join WWW, so she's going to keep to that agreement. Plus, it benefits her in a way because now she has non-deletable punching bags for Forte outside of the Uranet. She also has subordinates who (grudgingly) respect her because of Forte's power.

Netto has a bunch of scars. Some are from the early days of not being fully used to Full Synchro's damage-sharing factor, while others are often from carelessness in the Uranet or real world situations.

A pseudo Full Synchro is just one where, instead of the navi being given a boost, the human is the one who gets a really short term ability boost.

* * *

Editing Highlights:

("Sounds like a tasteless name, if you ask me." –Madoi)

Me: Hey this is for you

kaffinee: yay it's me

Me: Yeah it's you

…

("Let's fight first. I want to compare their strength with mine." –Forte)

kaffinee: me

Me: 'Fight me' Forte

kaffinee: fite me u hoe

Me: Alright let's do it right now c'mon

…

("I'll be back soon!" –Netto)

kaffinee: new quest!

Me: Questing, questing!

…

("Got it." –Netto)

kaffinee: oh yay she's gonna die

Me: Oh no. Fic's over pack your bags everyone

kaffinee: adios muchachos

…

("Haruka answered cheerfully.")

kaffinee: why cheerful,,, does she like it when her husband is gone?

Me: No, she's just…always cheerful I don't know why

kaffinee: scary


	14. Prediction

duskrider: Great to hear that! Family relations are going to be one heck of a problem soon.

Ai Star: Yep, Netto's a part of WWW now! It doesn't change much though, other than that now Netto knows the WWW members and maybe what they might be planning.

Guest: That's not what you're supposed to do with top secret information.

nixus fury: Well, here you go.

While I'm back from hiatus, updating will be slower than before. Hopefully not as slow as it had been before I updated, but it's not going to be as fast as I had done it previously.

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

* * *

Prediction

Netto whistled in appreciation at the yellow dots on the screen in the secret base, swinging her legs back and forth. She was sitting on the couch, sandwiched between Dekao and Meiru as they watched the dots that represented the incidents that occurred around town. There was a single blinking orange dot that represented Numberman, which disappeared every few seconds. "You really did a _number_ on him, Higure. That upgrading really improved his _statistics_."

Forte coughed, torn between wanting to groan and laugh at the same time at the bad puns.

"Numberman isn't acting normal!" Higure said, scratching at his head from where he was standing behind the couch. "There must have been a bug with my customization!"

"Then do something!" Dekao exclaimed, turning to him. Netto and Meiru did so as well, and all three cried out in disgust, Dekao and Netto leaping away from the man. "Keep your dandruff to yourself, dandruff freak!"

' _I was never this bad at taking care of myself.'_

' _ **That's because you have me and Allegro.**_ **He** _ **only has his navi, who was being upgraded the entire time.'**_

"Is there anything that Numberman likes?" Meiru asked. "For example, attracting him with rare chips."

Higure lowered his head, glasses shining. "Rare chips…"

"Forget it!" Yaito waved the suggestion away. She sat on the chair adjacent to the couch. "The one already here is the chip otaku operator!"

Meiru nodded, sighing.

"Haahhh…" Higure exhaled loudly, attracting everyone's attention. "Rare… rare chips… sent from the heavens… so refined… Muramasa… such power…"

"But Muramasa's attack power is defined by how many hit points you lose," Netto couldn't help but point out. "It should be used as a last-resort weapon, unless you want your navi to get _really_ close to deletion at the start of the battle for a one-hit kill that might not even work."

' _ **Please stay on topic.'**_

"Oh, er, I mean…" Netto stammered. "Um, get a grip on yourself, Higure! What does Numberman like!?"

Higure cleared his throat. "Numberman loves numbers, particularly calculations."

' _ **Of course. Numberman loves numbers. Who would have thought.'**_

"Calculations?" Yaito repeated, briefly closing her eyes in thought. She then smirked, pressing a few buttons on her PET.

"Eh?" Meiru blinked, staring at the screen. "Numberman changed direction."

"You're right," Dekao affirmed. "He's headed this way!"

"Looks like it really got his attention!" Yaito had a satisfied smile on her face. "I started the calculation of pi in the mansion's supercomputer."

"Pi?" Netto blinked. "Huh. So that's Numberman's type?"

"Glyde, shut down the mansion security," Yaito addressed her navi. "We're going to invite Numberman in!"

"Understood."

Netto, Meiru, and Dekao took this time to plug their navis into the network in case force was needed to stop the out-of-control navi. Then they settled down to wait.

Very soon, Numberman arrived, staring up at the supercomputer's frame in wonder. Several security navis spawned, jumping down from the frame to dogpile on top of Numberman. They were, however, blown away by the navi's next attack, causing a mass log out.

Rockman and Roll hopped down as well, landing in front of Numberman. "Numberman, return quietly to your PET!" the blue navi shouted.

"Go back so you can be repaired!" Roll added.

Gutsman landed behind Numberman so that the green navi was surrounded. "There's…" Numberman began, "…there's nothing wrong with me!" He shot out a dice bomb, which landed on a two. As it exploded, Rockman and Roll quickly leaped away.

"That punk!" Dekao yelled.

"Rockman, it looks like you're going to have to fight him!" Netto picked out a Shotgun chip. "I'll send you battle chips!"

"N-n-n-no!" Higure ran forward, blocking the brunette's view of the screen, and spread his arms out. "He'll only get damaged more!" He grabbed Netto's wrist. "If this continues I won't be able to participate in the tournament!"

"This isn't the time to worry about that!" Netto argued, annoyed.

While she wasn't looking, Numberman threw more dice bombs at Roll and Gutsman. They were blown away by the resulting blast, and Numberman laughed manically at the destruction.

Rockman crept up behind the navi, then grabbed his arms, trying to keep Numberman from moving. "Stop this, Numberman! Open your eyes!"

"Don't get in my way!" Numberman snarled, shoving Rockman away. He pulled out a metal stick from out of nowhere, charging at Rockman.

Netto quickly switched out her battle chips. "Area Steal!" Rockman warped away just in time, avoiding Numberman's attack.

The blue navi looked at the spot he was in previously, spotting binary code rising out of the small crater that was created from the impact. "What destructive power… he's a lot more powerful than before!"

"Yeah!" Higure cheered, throwing his arms up in celebration. "The version upgrade was a success!"

"This isn't exactly the time to be impressed," Meiru snapped.

"I don't have the patience for this!" Netto growled. "Fight him, Rockman!"

Higure glanced down at her in shock, spotting another battle chip in her hand. "N-no, you mustn't!"

"Battle chip, Sword, slot in!"

"No, you mustn't!" Higure wailed, tears running down his face. "Stop!"

Numberman brought out another metal stick as Rockman's arm formed into a sword. The blue navi sliced at his opponent, only for his attack to be blocked by one of Numberman's weapons. Numberman laughed, swinging his other stick down and forcing Rockman to guard with his sword. The blade cracked into two from the impact, dissolving into data. Numberman then raised both of his weapons, about to strike Rockman.

A gust of snow and ice blew toward Numberman, and the navi screeched in surprise as he froze into an ice cube. Rockman blinked, glancing at the source of the attack.

Iceman grinned, waving at the blue navi. "Yo, Rockman!"

"Iceman!"

"Tohru, you made it!" Netto said, recognizing where Tohru was. Ignoring Higure's quiet sobs, she continued, "I'm glad Iceman could come!"

"Besides that, hurry!" Tohru interrupted. "The first match is about to start!"

"That's right!" Meiru gasped in realization. "Dekao-kun and Gutsman are in the first match!"

Dekao paled, having lost track of time. "Shoot!"

"Thank you for saving us, Iceman." Rockman smiled.

"You're welcome!" Iceman replied cheerfully.

Suddenly, Numberman broke out of his ice prison with a battle cry. He raised his weapons above his head, about to attack again, when a spinning something struck the stick and cleanly broke both of them in half. It landed on the ground, and a glow transformed the sickle into a hand.

Numberman trembled, looking down at what was left of his weapons in shock. He then stiffened, turning around to look behind him, where a lavender flame had appeared. It grew, and everyone present could hear a low, eerie laughing coming from it.

"Who's there!?" Rockman asked, a hand on his arm in case he needed to use his Rockbuster.

From the fire, a skeleton-styled navi stepped out. He raised his arm up, the one that was missing a limb, and the fallen hand flew to him as if it was drawn to a magnet.

Numberman screamed in panic, deciding to charge at the strange navi. He threw a punch, which the other navi neatly avoided. The skeleton navi slammed his heel into the back of Numberman's neck, knocking the navi unconscious.

"Numberman!" Rockman shouted, running forward as the unknown navi disappeared from the network. "Wait!"

"Who in the world was that navi?" Netto wondered, ignoring Higure's crying yet again.

"Dekao-kun, you'd better hurry and get to the first battle!" Meiru glanced down at her PET. "There's only five minutes until it starts!"

"There's no way I can make it!" Dekao cried. "Five minutes isn't enough!"

"Five minutes is plenty of time!" Yaito exclaimed, pressing buttons on a remote control. "Sit down!"

The other three teenagers did as told, leaving Higure alone. Netto wasn't even startled when the couch began descending. However, she _was_ surprised with the mode of transportation they were using to get to the tournament. _'What is this, a fighter jet?'_

' _ **And in pink, too.'**_ Forte scowled. _**'Why is she like this?'**_

They were soon on their way, flying just below the clouds to their destination. Netto decided to take this time to view the live footage of the tournament happenings.

"—challenger Oyama Dekao doesn't show, he will be disqualified from the match."

"No chance of that happening; we're right above the stadium now!" Yaito smirked, then gestured to a rope tightly wrapped around a hook. "Dekao-kun, use that to get yourself down there as quickly as possible."

"Good luck!" Netto and Meiru called simultaneously as Dekao grabbed onto the rope and was lowered down.

As the jet made its landing, all three teenagers quickly exited and joined Mariko, Masa, and Tohru.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Meiru said with a relieved sigh.

"You had Mariko-sensei all worried, you idiots!" Masa yelled.

"Oh, it's all right." Mariko smiled. "I'm just glad Dekao-kun didn't get disqualified. Besides that…" She turned around, looking out the window, where the jet had landed. "That's amazing, Yaito-chan! Is that your father's?"

Yaito shook her head. "Nope, it's for my own personal use."

' _ **You would think that the pink coating would give it away.'**_

"Plug in, Gutsman, transmission!" Dekao shouted from his side of the console. Cheering started up when the audience realized that the fight was about to commence. "Defeat him!"

"Hurray, hurray, Dekao!" Masa yelled, waving around a giant fish flag. "Hurray, hurray, Gutsman!"

"The N1 Grand Prix Tournament has finally begun!" the reporter, Midorikawa Kero, announced.

Gutsman threw a punch at his opponent, sending the navi flying and crashing to the ground.

"Go, Gutsman!" Dekao exclaimed as his navi used his Gutsman Hammer move, easily logging his opponent out.

"What a surprise!" Kero said. "Oyama Dekao's Gutsman has caused his opponent to log out within thirty seconds!"

Dekao laughed, then stopped in surprise at the second set of cheers. Turning around, he spotted the screen that showed the match going on in the subdome.

"We've just received reports from the subdome," Kero stated, looking at the slip of paper that had been given to her. "Ijuuin Enzan's Blues has…" she suddenly did a double take. "… has forced his opponent to log out in just three seconds?!"

' _ **I wonder if his navi has the ultimate program…'**_

 _'Don't know… it's still just the preliminaries, anyway. I wonder if he manages to reach the finals.'_ Netto squinted, noticing Enzan saying something even though the screen didn't transmit sound. "I… and… Blues? Disappoint… don't disappoint?" Trying to read lips from a long distance was starting to give her a headache. "Hikari Netto… Don't disappoint me and Blues, Hikari Netto… is that what he said?" She grinned. "I definitely won't!"

* * *

"I finally found my way back here!" Netto exclaimed in relief, plopping down next to Meiru, who handed Netto Rockman's PET.

"Honestly, Netto. I could have gone with you so you wouldn't get lost for so long!" Meiru chided. "How did it take you—" She checked the time. "—over thirty minutes to get to and from the bathroom!?"

Netto pouted. "But the stadium's gigantic! Even when I looked at the map, I still couldn't find my way around!"

"Amazing!" Kero shouted, a round of cheers starting up. "Challenger Ace's Forte has caused his opponent to log out in merely three seconds!"

The overhead screen showed a recorded video of the fight, a video of Forte charging forward, a hand plunging into his opponent's torso, and the log out that followed.

' _ **Not even worth my time.'**_

' _I just had a thought. What if you had the ultimate program? We don't really know what it does, other than being able to give a navi very unique abilities. You know, like your Get Ability program?'_

' _ **No way.'**_ Forte dismissed the thought. _**'The old man wouldn't tell us to look for it if I already had the thing. Besides, the Get Ability program came from a mutation when…'**_

 _A navi with a flaming sword, raising his arm up to delete him. A standard navi rushing forward to defend him. The sword—Heat Blade—slicing through the standard navi, through his emblem. The worried cries of a child, who was an inexperienced operator. Raw hatred for the navi, for nearly deleting him, for telling him that his creator abandoned him to the fate of deletion. The need for power and revenge warping and mutating his restraints so much that they became a new addition to his programming. A bloodthirsty smirk as he summoned up his own Heat Blade, instantly deleting the navi. A shriek of surprise from the child as she was discovered by the scientists, and he—_

'… _**Ignore that,'**_ Forte muttered, _**'It isn't relevant now, anyway. I don't have the Ultimate Program.'**_

Netto bit her lip, nodding slightly.

"Only a few matches remain for the tournament preliminaries!" Kero announced. "Now, let's meet our new challengers! From Akihara High School, Hikawa Tohru and his navi, Iceman!"

"You can do it, Tohru-kun!" Meiru called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Mariko sighed happily, placing a hand on her chest. "My heart is racing; I can't believe my students are actually here!"

"Mariko-sensei…" Masa began, prompting Mariko to look at him. "I am deeply moved by how much you care for your students! I will cheer for them alongside you!" He stood up, pulling out a giant flag with a fish on it and waved it around wildly. "Hurray, hurray, Hikawa! Do your best, do your best, To-oh-ru!"

"From the Densan Battle Academy, we have the navi, Breakman!" Kero introduced. "Equipped with thirty-two missiles, he is one strong navi!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Netto said, turning to Meiru. "I met Miyuki when I was looking for a way back. She predicted that Tohru's battle would be over in one minute."

"Eh, really?" Meiru blinked, looking over to the big screen. "I don't think Tohru-kun and Iceman would lose in one minute, no matter how strong their opponent is."

"Well, she said that the loser would be Breakman."

The buzzer sounded just then, and Netto faced the screen as well, watching as Breakman unleashed his missiles on Iceman.

"Whoa!" Kero gasped. "Only the first attack and Iceman's already in trouble! Perhaps this level is too much for him!"

After reloading, Breakman attacked again, but Tohru slotted in Ice Cube to defend Iceman. The child navi then counterattacked with Freeze Bubble, effectively freezing Breakman into a block of ice. Unable to move, Breakman lost, and the battle was over.

"Tohru-kun won!" Mariko cheered, clapping her hands together.

"That missile idiot!" Masa smirked. "Didn't even look at where he was aiming!"

"What a surprise!" Kero announced. "After being on the verge of losing, Iceman turned it around and won!"

"Wow…" Rockman gaped. "The battle ended in one minute after all!"

"Tohru and Iceman were great!" Netto agreed with a smile. "So was Miyuki's fortune telling!" She paused, tilting her head slightly in thought. "Does that mean her other prediction about rain is going to come true, too?"

"Rain?" Meiru repeated, looking up at the bright blue sky. "Really? The weather report said that it would be sunny all day today, though…"

* * *

"We're going to do great, right?" Netto grinned as she talked to Rockman. It was after the brief intermission that had served as a lunch break, and the dome roof was closed because of sudden rain.

"Right, Netto-kun!" Rockman agreed, nodding.

"Netto-kun!"

The girl blinked, looking up. "Oh, Higure. Is something wrong?" She paused. "Oh yeah, how's Numberman doing?"

"He's fine," Higure answered. "His damage wasn't too serious."

"That's a relief," Netto replied with a smile. "He got beat up pretty badly, so I was a bit worried." _'I still wonder who that navi was…'_

"I was able to come to the tournament because of you!" He took Netto's hand and gave her some battle chips. "Here, this is for you."

"Eh?" Netto asked. "I can't accept this!"

"Please take it," Higure insisted. "It's a show of my appreciation. They're battle chips of friendship!"

"Then… I guess that's fine?" She glanced at Rockman, who only shrugged.

Higure scratched his head. "Well then, I'll see you later at the tournament." A wave of a hand, and he walked away.

"Battle chips of friendship, huh?" Netto murmured. "I wonder what kind of chips those are. I mean, they're from a chip otaku." She raised her hand up, looking at the gifts. "… They're just Mini-Bombs." she stated flatly. "And ten of them, too. That's, what, ten thousand zenny?" Looking at the direction that Higure had gone, she spotted him poking out from a corner.

"Netto-kun, good luck!" He waved again, then disappeared.

"Of course," Netto muttered. "Why would I expect a chip otaku to give me a rare chip? That's like trying to get a dragon to hand over a piece of its hoard." She groaned. "What do I even do with these?"

"Now, the match is about to begin!" Kero announced, prompting cheers from the crowd. "What kind of battle will they give us?"

"Ah, I should get going," Netto said, looking around. _'How do I get down there again?'_

Forte sighed. _**'Take the hallway to your left and go down the first set of stairs that you see.'**_

Miraculously, Netto actually managed to reach the battle area in a matter of minutes. As she walked over to the console, Kero continued the introductions.

"The challengers from the D Area—from Akihara High, Hikari Netto, and her navi, Rockman!" The big screen switched to the two's images when mentioned. "And Hikari Netto's first opponent is…" The screen showed nothing but static. "Huh? What's wrong? The monitor seems to be broken… wait, someone's in front of the monitor? Could it be her opponent?"

"My first opponent is…?" Netto squinted, spotting a hat with a skull-like emblem and a crystal ball. "Oh, that's Miyuki!"

"D Area, Challenger Hikari Netto's first opponent is…" Kero flipped through the list of the Grand Prix contestants. "A fortune teller from Densan Town… Challenger Kuroi Miyuki! And her navi, Skullman! However, there is no data on that navi. Just like the operator, they're a very scary—no, a very mysterious navi!"

Miyuki stepped up to the console. "I can see it…"

"Huh?" Netto raised an eyebrow. "See what?"

"This battle will be over in five minutes," the fortune teller predicted, then smiled slightly. "Of course, the loser will be… you."

"She's telling her fortune!" Kero gasped. "Kuroi Miyuki is foretelling Hikari Netto's defeat!"

"Sorry, but I'm going to prove that fortune wrong!" Netto declared. "Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

Miyuki set her crystal ball down on top of the console, taking out her PET. "Well then, Skullman, shall we get started?"

When Skullman appeared on the battlefield, Rockman inhaled sharply in surprise. "You're that navi…!"

"Oh! You're the navi that knocked out Numberman!" Netto grinned. "This is going to be fun!"

As the buzzer signaled the start of the fight, Skullman dashed away.

"Wha—" Netto blinked. "He's fast! Rockman, behind you!"

Rockman spun around and leaped backward, dodging the spinning arm that flew at him.

"He's disappeared from sight!" Kero reported. "Challenger Kuroi Miyuki's navi has become invisible!"

"No," Rockman disagreed, "Skullman's just moving at an incredibly fast speed!" He avoided the next attack and shot toward the direction that it had come from. The shots, however, were too slow to be able to hit Skullman in time.

"If he's too fast to hit with the Rockbuster, then how about this!?" Netto pulled out her selected chip. "Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!"

The instant Rockman received the chip, he shot in Skullman's general area, completely missing him. The shots struck the ground, sending up large amounts of smoke and dust. He waited, searching for any sign of movement, and spotted a cloud of smoke that was moving faster than the rest.

"There you are!" Returning to his Rockbuster, Rockman fired again. This time he managed to strike his opponent, forcing the other navi to stop in his tracks.

"That's it, Rockman!" Netto cheered. "Keep it up!"

' _ **Shotgun to create smoke and to track Skullman's movements, huh?'**_ Forte hummed in thought. _**'That won't last forever.'**_

"Yeah, but we can attack now!" Netto pulled out some more chips, but paused when Miyuki began to speak.

"Four minutes is all you have left." Miyuki warned, "Your time is limited."

' _ **Would that mean that the conditions for winning this match are either to defeat Skullman or to survive for more than five minutes?'**_

"Challenger Netto and Rockman's smoke attack was a success!" Kero announced. "The previously unstoppable Skullman has now shown himself!"

Skullman chuckled slowly. "You're pretty good…" He raised his arm up, letting his hand fly back. "However, I won't be holding back any longer!"

He disappeared, reappearing in front of Rockman and throwing a punch, which Rockman barely managed to avoid. He repeated the attacks, with Rockman being unable to counterattack due to Skullman's agility.

"You're too slow!" Skullman taunted as he struck Rockman, knocking him down.

"It looks like Skullman's too fast!" Kero exclaimed. "Rockman's in a pinch!"

Netto gritted her teeth, picking out two chips. "If Rockman can't match Skullman's speed by himself, then how about this? Battle chips, Area Steal and Sword, slot in!"

The Area Steal warped Rockman away just as Skullman tried to attack him again. He ended up behind Skullman, his right arm a blade. With a battle cry, Rockman slashed at Skullman, only to miss when the navi dodged, and got punched in the face.

"Three minutes left," Miyuki murmured.

Netto grumbled a minor swear in Sharoian, then inserted another Area Steal. That attempt failed as well, Rockman having gotten a knee to the gut this time.

"Why!?" the blue navi choked out, trying to regain his bearing.

"What's the matter?" Skullman asked smugly.

"So even if Rockman matches Skullman's speed, we can't beat him, huh?" Netto muttered. "Rockman, try to keep your distance until I can think something else up!"

"Right!" Rockman dashed away, only for Skullman to easily catch up to him and attack him.

"Shoot, I forgot about that!" She bit her lip in worry. "They're anticipating all of our moves! Are we that weak to be easily read like that?"

' _ **Calm down, Netto. The more you panic, the easier it is for you to make a bad decision.'**_

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Netto smiled uneasily. _'It feels like I'm a beginner all over again. Now let's see what I can come up with…'_

"It's time to end this, Skullman." Miyuki held up a chip. "Battle chip, Demon Fire, slot in."

"I'll show you the flames of hell!" Skullman declared, unleashing a purple fireball from his hands. Having been struck by the attack, Rockman collapsed onto his back.

"Rockman's in trouble!" Kero exclaimed. "Could this be the end?!"

"Come on, Rockman!" Netto yelled. "Stand up! The match isn't over yet!"

"Netto-kun!" Rockman smiled, getting back up in time to dodge another Demon Fire.

"Wow, Rockman got back up right at the last second!" Kero cheered. "But will he be finished off by Skullman?"

"There's no way I can get Skullman to stop moving with the battle chips I have, so that plan's out the window." Netto pulled out her remaining chips. "Two Area Steals, and… all the Mini-Bombs that Higure gave me. Hmm, if Skullman can predict where Rockman would be after using Area Steal, then…" She grinned. "Hey, Miyuki! How many minutes are left until your fortune's supposed to come true?"

Miyuki sighed, closing her eyes. "One minute."

Netto nodded in acceptance. "That's going to have to be good enough. Rockman, I'm going to send you the battle chips I haven't used yet!"

The fortune teller raised an eyebrow as a blue ball appeared in Rockman's hand. "Mini-Bomb? Is that the chip you've been saving?"

"Let's have fun right up to the very end, Rockman!" Netto shouted, smiling.

"Alright, Netto-kun!" Rockman said as he threw the bomb at Skullman, who dodged it. The bomb exploded as it hit the ground, sending up dust.

Netto inserted more Mini-Bombs, and Rockman threw all of them at Skullman as the skeleton-styled navi ran until she had three of the chips left. The battlefield was full of smoke and dust that had been created from the explosions.

' _Miyuki and Skullman are probably thinking that I'm using the smokescreen strategy from the beginning of the fight again,'_ Netto told Rockman through their link. _'They have no reason to think that it will be different.'_

' _If I use an Area Steal, I can match Skullman's speed, but he'll be able to predict my attack,'_ Rockman pointed out.

Netto had to struggle in order to keep a blank face. _'That's why the two Area Steals and three Mini-Bombs that I still have are going to be my strategy.'_

' _Two Area Steals and three Mini-Bombs? How would tha—oh, I understand now! Let's do it!'_

This time, Netto smirked. "Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!" As Rockman disappeared once again, she inserted the Mini-Bombs, followed by the last Area Steal she had.

"It's useless!" Skullman rushed toward where he thought Rockman would be. "I can predict each and every one of your moves!" He punched at where Rockman had been warped to.

Only it wasn't Rockman who appeared there.

It was the three Mini-Bombs.

"Rockman, now!" Netto yelled as Skullman was blown away by the ensuing explosion.

Regaining his bearings, Skullman quickly threw a Demon Fire at Rockman. "Quit fooling around!"

A single shot from the Rockbuster destroyed the attack, and another managed to strike Skullman in the chin.

He stumbled back, growling. "Y-you destroyed my Demon Fire! Unforgivable!" He charged at Rockman.

"He lost his cool!" Netto blinked in surprise. "Let's take advantage of this! Battle chip, Elec Sword, slot in!"

As soon as the crackling of electricity was heard, Rockman ran toward Skullman, brandishing the sword and slicing at Skullman—or rather, where Skullman had been before Miyuki logged him out. Then the buzzer sounded, signaling the end the fight and Rockman's win.

Netto scowled, glaring at Miyuki. _'She let me win, didn't she? Skullman hardly took any damage.'_

' _ **At least try to be happy that you didn't lose in your first match.'**_

She sighed, then attempted a smile. "Rockman, we won!"

"Yeah!" Rockman beamed, practically glowing with happiness.

"The battle is over!" Kero announced. "D Area's winners are Hikari Netto and Rockman! What a fantastic, action-packed battle!"

Netto turned to leave after plugging Rockman out, but stopped when she saw Kero rushing up to her, microphone in hand.

"Challenger Netto!" the announcer began. "That was certainly a great battle, wasn't it? How do you feel right at this minute?"

"H-huh? Er…" Netto stammered, not expecting to be interviewed right after her match. "I'm, uh…"

"Excited about my victory," Forte answered for her, not having the patience for the interview. "Skullman was a difficult opponent." He paused for a moment. "If that answer satisfies you, may I leave now? Rockman needs to recover from the damage he sustained during the battle."

"Of course!" Kero answered. "We look forward to seeing how you'll do in future matches!" With that, she left.

' _ **The next time this happens, I'm not helping you.'**_

Netto groaned as she walked out of the arena. _'Fine, I'll be more prepared next time.'_ Then she stopped, remembering something. "Wait, where did Miyuki go? I wanted to ask her a question."

Rockman shrugged. "She might be at the other side of the stadium, since that's where the other arena entrance is."

Nodding, Netto followed the hallway until it opened up to a lounge area. There, she spotted the person that she was looking for.

"Ah, Miyu—" Netto began, but stopped when she saw who Miyuki was with. _'… I don't think I should interrupt them.'_

' _ **Hmm?'**_ Forte took a look. _**'The fortune teller and the flower shop owner? Why not?'**_

Netto backed up and turned away, then walked in the direction that she came from. _'It looked like a scene from one of those romance movies that Meiru and Yaito showed me. And I think you should learn their names. It's easier to just say Miyuki and Saloma.'_

' _ **I'll learn their names if I ever have a need to,'**_ Forte replied, which was his way of saying 'probably never.' _**'I don't remember anything about movies. When did that happen?'**_

' _It was during one of your day-long trips to the Uranet. You know, those trips where you see how the Uranet is doing, checking if anyone tried to make a larger-than-allowed territory, deleting any dissenters who show up to try to delete you, and maintaining your status as the Uranet's god?'_

' _ **As well as checking up on the Secret Area,'**_ Forte added. _**'So that was when it happened. Speaking of which, you should find your way back before the others get worried.'**_

"Oh, right." Netto looked around, realizing that there were two hallways to take. "Rockman, how do I get to where Meiru and the others are?"

"Well, you passed a hallway a while back that would have led to the spectators' seats," Rockman said, pulling up a map.

"Oh." Netto turned back, pausing when she spotted the WWW members walking around. _'Do they know that we entered the Grand Prix as Ace and Forte?'_

Forte scoffed. _**'With the exception of Mahajarama, I doubt that they managed to figure it out unless they saw our match.'**_

"Netto!"

Said girl blinked as she saw Meiru running toward her. "What is it, Meiru?"

"Don't 'what is it' me!" The redhead huffed, crossing her arms. "I've been looking for you for the past fifteen minutes! Did you get lost _again_?"

"No." Netto shook her head.

"Yes," Rockman answered after he greeted Roll. "Netto-kun almost wandered outside."

"Huh." Netto looked at the hallways behind her. "Is that where those lead to?"

Meiru sighed. "Come on, Netto. Dekao-kun's second match is about to start. And I'm here this time, so you definitely won't miss it."

"I don't get lost that often!" Netto protested, pouting.

' _ **Sure you don't.'**_

* * *

Yes, Netto learned how to read lips.

So I'm thinking that Netto's tendency to get lost is going to become a running gag because it's so fun to write.

And yes, I am implying the possibility of Miyuki and Saloma being in a romantic relationship with each other. They were the mystery speakers in the Game chapter.

And there's a sneak peek at Forte's point of view of the event that caused the two to run away!

* * *

Editing highlights:

("So that's Numberman's type?" –Netto)

kaffinee: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808…. that's all I remember.

Me: For what reason did you memorize all that. Just wondering.

kaffinee: lol so I can beat this one boy

Me: That's a cool reason. You're still a nerd tho.

…

("Unable to move, Breakman lost, and the battle was over.")

kaffinee: that was ridiculously simple.

Me: To make it fit into a minute, I guess.

…

("You're too slow!" –Skullman)

Kaffinee: sanik!

Me: Gotta go fast.

Kaffinee: gross

Me: You're the one who said 'sanik'…


End file.
